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BULLETIN 


o V* 


OF  THE 

FIRST  DISTRICT  NORMAL  SCHOOL 

KIRKSVILLE,  MISSOURI 


Volume  XV 


Numbers  10  and  11 


OCTOBER-NOVEMBER,  1915 


Publisht  Monthly 


Education  Series 
No.  1 


BULLETIN 

OF  THE 

FIRST  DISTRICT  NORMAL  SCHOOL 

KIRKSVILLE,  MISSOURI 


Founded  by  Joseph  Baldwin 

as  .the  North  Missouri  Normal  School,  September  2,  1867 

Adopted  as  the  First  District  Normal  School,  December  29,  1870 
under  Act  of  the  General  Assembly,  Approved  March  19,  1870 

Opend  as  the  First  District  Normal  School,  January  1,  1871 


Volume  XV  Numbers  10-11 


OCT.-NOV.,  1915 


Publisht  Monthly  by  the 
First  District  Normal  School 


EDUCATION  SERIES 
No.  1 


Enterd  as  second  class  mail  matter  April  29,  1915,  at  the  post  office  at  Kirksville,  Missouri, 
under  the  Act  of  Congress  of  August  24,  1912. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION 


JOHN  R.  KIRK, 

President 

WILLIAM  ARTHUR  CLARK, 

Professor  of  Education  and  Chairman  of  the  Division  of  Education 

MARK  BURROWS, 

Professor  of  Rural  Education 

ROSAMOND  ROOT, 

Associate  Professor  of  Rural  Education 

THURBA  FIDLER, 

Instructor  in  Demonstration  Rural  School 

SUSIE  BARNES, 

Director  of  Practice  Schools 

EUDORA  HELEN  SAVAGE, 

Supervisor  of  English  in  Practice  School 

LAURIE  DOOLITTLE, 

Supervisor  of  History  and  Geography  in  Practice  School 

GENEVIEVE  KIRKBRIDE 

Supervisor  in  Primary  Grades  in  Practice  School 

CLARICE  EVANS, 

Supervisor  in  Primary  Grades  and  Instructor  in  Industrial  Arts 

MARY  PAINE 

Supervisor  of  Kindergarten 

FLORENCE  FAIRMAN  STUCKEY, 

Supervisor  of  Kindergarten 


37 t>' 

/]/!  b / 42* 
h**  / 


CONTENTS 

. s Educational  Diagnosis 5 

W.  A.  Clark 

The  Reorganization  of  Elementary  and  Secondary  Schools 9 

Eudora  Helen  Savage 

The  Child’s  Study  of  Industries 14 

Clarice  Evans 

The  Aesthetic  Influence  of  the  Kindergarten 15 

Florence  Fairman  Stuckey 

Play  Elements  in  Primary  Education 18 

Genevieve  Kirkbride 

A Brief  for  the  Teaching  of  History 21 

Laurie  Doolittle 

The  Role  of  the  Practice  School  in  the  Later  Preparedness  through  School 


Education 

Susie  Barnes 

25 

The  Rural  Teacher 

Mark  Burrows 

32 

Correlation  in  the  Rural  School 

Thurba  Fidler 

35 

Rating  Teachers 

Rosamond  Root 

39 

3 


PREFACE 

The  matter  contained  in  this  Bulletin  has  originated  in  par- 
ticular interests  of  the  individual  members  of  the  Department  of 
Education.  While  the  general  plan  of  the  publication  was  de- 
termined in  the  conference  of  a department  meeting,  no  attempt 
has  been  made  to  secure  logical  coherence  of  the  papers;  each 
writer  has  determined  his  own  subject,  materials,  and  form  of 
treatment  and  is  to  be  credited  individually  with  whatever  in  it 
is  helpful  to  students  of  educational  theory  and  practice*  All  the 
papers  were  specially  written  for  the  Bulletin,  though  the  excellent 
longer  article  by  Professor  Barnes  was  read  before  the  Faculty 
Club  at  its  meeting  in  February,  1916.  The  quotations  inter- 
spersed among  the  papers  were  selected  by  individual  members  of 
the  Department  as  expressions  of  appreciation  of  stimulating 
thoughts  found  in  their  readings. 


4 


EDUCATIONAL  DIAGNOSIS 

W.  A.  Clark 

Within  the  last  decade  there  has  come  into  use  in  educational 
discussions,  in  conventions  and  magazines,  a new  term  as  yet  of 
somewhat  vague  meaning.  The  term  “diagnosis”  has  been 
appropriated  from  the  literature  of  the  medical  profession  with 
little  serious  effort  to  adapt  it  to  the  description  of  the  processes 
of  education.  It  is  the  misfortune  of  the  study  of  education  that 
its  terminology  is  almost  wholly  second-hand;  it  too  often  appears 
in  the  ill-fitting  clothing  of  other  fields  of  thought  and  action. 
While  this  newly  adopted  term  is  needed  in  the  critical  thinking 
of  the  present  educational  renaissance,  it  requires  defining  in 
both  its  technical  meaning  and  its  implications. 

When  a doctor  is  called  to  see  a patient,  his  first  step  is  diag- 
nosis. He  proceeds  to  determine  on  the  basis  of  accepted  stand- 
ards the  status  of  the  life  with  which  he  has  to  deal.  His  diag- 
nosis, unfortunately  in  the  present  stage  of  medical  practice  con- 
cerned too  exclusively  with  defects  in  the  vital  function,  is  in  its 
general  significance  a species  of  biological  stock-taking.  When 
properly  made,  it  furnishes  him  a practical  knowledge  of  a life 
situation.  By  this  means  he  seeks  to  know  his  patient,  in  struc- 
ture and  function  in  the  condition  in  which  he  finds  him,  in  order 
that  he  may  treat  him  helpfully  “according  to  nature.”  It 
requires  but  a moment’s  reflection  for  the  student  of  pedagogy  to 
discover  that  all  rational  educational  treatment  must  begin  with  a 
similar  diagnosis  of  life  conditions.  Too  often  such  educational 
diagnosis  has  been  deemed  of  minor  importance.  It  is  only  in 
the  last  one  hundred  and  fifty  years — since  the  publication  of 
Rousseau’^  “Emile” — that  the  diagnosis  of  the  condition  of  the 
pupil  has  been  given  even  a limited  value  in  determining  the  aim 
and  procedure  of  education.  Under  the  leadership  of  Locke, 
Rousseau,  Pestalozzi,  Herbart  and  Froebel  modern  pedagogy 
has  become  child-centered.  Instead  of  dealing  with  his  pupil 
in  the  interest  of  “grown-up  life,”  on  the  assumption  that  his 
present  child  life  has  meaning  only  as  material  put  of  which  to 
form  adult  life,  the  disciple  of  Pestalozzi  seeks  to  cultivate  the 
fife  of  a child  in  the  level  where  he  finds  him.  By  sympathetic 


5 


diagnosis  he  discovers  the  activities  and  needs  of  the  child,  and 
endeavors  to  stimulate  and  direct  them  “ according  to  nature.” 
It  is  with  him  no  longer  a question  of  converting  children  into 
adults  as  expeditiously  as  possible,  at  the  expense  of  child  life. 
The  old  assumption,  ‘except  ye  become  as  grown-ups,  your  life 
has  no  value  in  human  affairs’,  is  giving  place  to  the  truer  bio- 
logical conception  of  the  world’s  greatest  teacher,  ‘except  ye  be- 
come as  little  children,  ye  cannot  enter  into  full  life’.  The  ideal 
in  modem  education  is  to  cultivate  each  stage  of  the  growth  of 
the  human  organism  in  its  own  right,  in  the  level  where  we  deal 
with  it;  hence  the  necessity  of  “diagnosis”  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
termining the  actual  status  of  the  organism.  Such  biological 
stock-taking  is  as  imperative  for  the  teacher  as  for  the  doctor. 

There  is  another  term  used  in  medical  literature  that  is 
equally  significant  in  educational  theory.  The  doctor  considers 
his  patient’s  life  not  only  in  the  critical  examination  of  diagnosis 
to  determine  its  present  status  but  equally  in  a “prognosis”  of  its 
anticipated  development.  On  his  discovered  knowledge  of  what 
the  life  now  is,  he  seeks  to  forecast  what  it  will  become.  In  a 
similar  manner  the  teacher  should  join  to  his  educational  diag- 
nosis an  educational  prognosis.  It  is  only  as  the  doctor  ad- 
vances from  a careful  diagnosis  of  his  “case”  to  an  equally  care- 
ful prognosis  that  he  can  determine  what  his  “treatment”  shall 
be.  So  the  educator  must  base  his  “methods”  of  treating  his 
pupil’s  fife  upon  both  diagnosis  and  prognosis  of  that  life.  This 
may  be  termed  the  biological  conception  of  education,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  sociological  and  economical  conceptions. 

As  means  in  his  diagnosis  the  doctor  takes  the  temperature, 
counts  the  pulse  beats,  and  examines  various  products  of  vital 
action;  so  the  teacher  has  recourse  to  a variety  of  devices  for  de- 
termining life  activity  and  educability.  What  the  thermometer 
under  the  tongue  of  the  patient  is  to  the  diagnosis  of  the  doctor, 
the  skilfully  put  “question”  is  to  the  diagnosis  of  the  teacher. 
The  question  is  the  teacher’s  chief  means  of  diagnosis.  He  ques- 
tions his  pupil,  at  least  in  his  first  question,  to  find  his  life  con- 
dition, just  as  the  doctor  uses  “percussion”  on  the  chest  to  dis- 
cover the  condition  of  the  vital  organs  of  his  patient.  The  pupil’s 
response  to  a question  is  as  valid  an  index  to  what  he  is  as  is  the 
sound  from  the  thorax  of  the  patient  under  the  doctor’s  tapping. 


Qn  the  basis  of  his  pupiFs  answer  the  teacher  makes  his  diagnosis 
and  passes  at  once  to  a prognosis  before  he  asks  the  next  question. 
A teacher’s  “ second  question  ” is  essentially  a “ teaching  question,  ” 
dealing  specifically  with  his  pupil’s  life  as  revealed  in  the  answer 
to  the  first  question.  It  depends  less  upon  the  logical  coherence 
of  the  material  that  he  is  using  than  upon  the  anticipated  move- 
ment of  the  life  he  is  cultivating.  The  skilful  teacher  has  his  eye 
upon  the  developing  life  of  his  pupil  and  adapts  his  questions  to 
its  progressive  manifestations,  just  as  the  doctor  changes  his  medi- 
cines from  day  to  day  as  his  patient’s  condition  appears  to  demand 
it.  As  a rule  teachers  are  less  flexible  in  treating  their  cases  than 
are  the  doctors.  It  is  a relic  of  the  older  adult-centered  education 
that  makes  teachers  anxious  to  incorporate  “knowledge”  into  the 
child  organism,  rather  than  to  satisfy  it's  growing  activities  in  its 
present  state.  While  the  doctor  holds  his  materia  medica  as  a 
means  only,  valuable  in  promoting  life,  the  teacher  often  looks 
upon  his  materia  didactica  as  an  end  in  itself,  having  value  as  a 
life  possession.  When  the  doctor  has  secured  healthy  life  func- 
tioning, he  gladly  throws  out  of  the  window  his  unused  drugs, 
without  regret  for  their  loss;  on  the  other  hand,  the  teacher,  in  his 
worship  of  “useful  knowledge”,  would  use  all  his  materials, 
whether  needed  or  not  in  securing  life,  and  he  looks  with  suspicion 
upon  the  pupil  who  “has  not  taken  the  full  course.”  No  greater 
advance  could  be  made  in  education  than  to  make  it  fully  child- 
centered,  with  “diagnosis”,  “prognosis”,  and  “treatment” 
such  as  modern  medicine  is  using  in  its  field. 

A favorite  mode  of  formal  educational  diagnosis  is  the  “ex- 
amination” given  at  intervals  in  the  progressive  treatment  of  the 
growing  fife  of  the  pupil.  As  commonly  employed  this  rather 
over-anxious  exploring  of  the  contents  of  the  pupil’s  mind  is  di- 
rected chiefly  to  discovering  how  much  of  the  didactic  material 
insinuated  into  the  life  of  the  pupil  has  been  retained  unaltered. 
It  is  a stock-taking  of  static  results,  having  less  to  do  with  present 
fife  activities  than  with  traces  of  fife  already  passed.  The  ab- 
surdity of  this  procedure  is  seen  when  we  liken  it  to  the  doctor’s 
examination  of  his  patient  after  some  days  of  treatment.  He 
does  not  explore  his  patient’s  body,  physically  and  chemically,  to 
see  whether  his  drugs  are  preserved  in  it;  he  is  not  concerned  about 
what  has  become  of  his  medicines,  but  about  the  structure  and 


7 


functioning  of  the  organism.  He  knows  that  any  medicines  found 
in  the  body  of  his  patient,  done  up  in  the  original  package,  are 
not  evidences  of  success,  but  of  failure.  The  materials  which 
he  has  introduced  into  his  patient’s  living  body  in  the  progress 
of  his  treatment  have  disappeared  in  the  metabolism  of  tissues, 
leaving  no  “traces”  except  in  the  improved  vital  activities  of  the 
organism.  What  he  seeks  to  discover  is  the  present  status  of  the 
life  and  what  further  treatment  is  “indicated”.  The  teacher’s 
examination  should  be  similarly  directed.  It  should  test  dynamic 
activities,  not  static  results.  It  is  not  stored-up  knowledge,  but 
quickened  and  directed  life  that  is  to  be  discovered.  The  ques- 
tions of  an  “examination”,  whether  a “written  lesson”  or  a 
“final  examination”,  should  aim  primarily  at  present  life  activ- 
ities and  abilities,  dealing  with  advance  movements  in  new  sit- 
uations. Knowledge  itself  is  dynamic;  it  is  knowing,  not  the 
result  of  having  known ; and  the  examination,  properly  employed, 
can  reveal  only  life  movements.  The  sciences  of  civilization  are 
valuable  as  educative  materials  only  as  they  are  created  anew  in 
the  individual  life.  They  must  become  concrete  in  the  pupil’s 
life,  losing  their  formal  structure  in  the  active  assimilation  of  the 
organism.  They  have  no  value  as  stored-up  stuff.  They  must 
be  individualized  into  the  integral  life  structure,  becoming  po- 
tential of  larger  growth.  Hence  the  teacher’s  examination  of  his 
pupil’s  knowledge  is  essentially  a testing  of  ability  to  do.  It 
is  as  truly  “ a health  inspection  ” as  is  the  doctor’s.  It  is  concerned 
with  the  vigor  of  the  life  which  the  teacher  is  seeking  to  conserve. 

It  is  the  function  of  education  to  promote  life  in  its  natural 
growth.  Educational  diagnosis  is  critical  observation  of  life 
with  a view  of  determining  its  condition  in  present  achievements 
and  possible  developments.  Such  diagnosis  is  essentially  pros- 
pective, rather  than  retrospective;  it  is  concerned  with  the  life 
that  is  to  be.  It  uses  the  past  only  a providing  materials  for 
the  anticipated  future.  The  retrospective  glance,  like  the  sur- 
veyor’s backsighting,  can  at  most  aid  in  orienting  the  life  in  the 
desired  line  of  its  future  progress.  The  teacher  must  know  the 
life  of  his  pupil  as  it  faces  larger  and  better  things,  and  his  diag- 
nosis is  always  a prophetic  vision. 


8 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  ELEMENTARY 
AND  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Eudora  Helen  Savage 

Probably  no  other  public  institution  is  receiving  at  the  pres- 
ent time  more  criticism  than  the  public  schools.  A part  of  this 
criticism  is  warranted.  Much  of  the  so-called  failure  of  the 
schools  to  prepare  their  students  for  efficient  living  is  directly 
traceable  to  remissness  elsewhere.  Those  nearest,  however,  to 
the  centre  of  life  in  the  schools,  recognize  that  there  is  need  for  a 
radical  change  in  the  principles  upon  which  our  schools  are  or- 
ganized. For  more  than  two  decades  the  attention  of  educators 
has  been  centered  upon  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades  of  the  ele- 
mentary school  and  the  first  year  of  the  high  school,  as  the  period 
in  which  the  greatest  adjustment  of  material  and  methods  to 
students  is  needed. 

Gradually  there  has  grown  up  a feeling  that  the  old-time 
division  of  elementary  school  grades,  one  to  eight  inclusive,  and 
high  school  grades,  nine  to  twelve,  is  fundamentally  wrong.  Eu- 
ropean countries  have  for  a long  time  recognized  the  end  of  the 
sixth  grade  as  the  time  when  the  changing  development  of  the 
child  calls  for  a radical  change  in  method  and  matter  of  the  cur- 
riculum. The  six-six  plan  is  now  before  us  for  serious  considera- 
tion. Accepting  in  this  discussion  the  first  six  grades  as  they  are 
commonly  organized  in  our  best  schools  and  the  last  three  years  of 
high  school  in  their  present  form,  we  shall  center  our  attention  on 
the  remaining  group,  grades  seven  and  eight  of  the  elementary 
school  and  the  first  year  of  the  high  school. 

As  the  six-year  high  school  has  been  tried  out  in  many  cities 
with  varying  degrees  of  success  it  is  no  longer  a mere  theory. 
There  are,  however,  in  this  new  organization  phases  which  require 
critical  analysis.  Experiment  is  proving  more  and  more  con- 
clusively that  merely  taking  the  last  two  grades  from  the  ele- 
mentary school  and  the  first  year  from  the  high  school,  and  placing 
this  heterogeneous  mass  of  youth  in  a separate  building  and  calling 
it  a “junior  high  school”  fails  to  recognize  the  real  change  in  our 
school  system.  To  understand  fully  the  fundamental  principles 
underlying  the  specific  changes  needed  in  the  reorganization  of 


our  school  courses  for  this  group  of  twelve  to  fifteen  year  old  boys 
and  girls  is  our  first  problem. 

The  division  of  the  school  curriculum  into  six  years  for  the 
elementary  school  and  six  years  for  the  high  school  is  based  on  the 
physiological  changes  that  come  to  both  boys  and  girls  soon  after 
the  twelfth  year  of  age.  These  physiological  changes  are  ac- 
companied by  mental  changes  so  great  that  this  epoch  has  been 
called  a new  birth.  It  is  the  theory  of  Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall  and  his 
school,  that  the  child  undergoes  sudden  and  abrupt  changes  at 
this  period.  On  the  other  hand  Dr.  Thomdyke  and  his  followers, 
as  a result  of  tests  of  mental  traits  as  well  as  physical  tests  of  chil- 
dren during  adolescence,  are  inclined  to  the  theory  that  the  changes 
are  gradual  at  this  period.  He  says  of  these  tests  that  ‘‘they 
give  no  support  to  the  sudden  rise  of  inner  tendencies.  Indeed 
every  tendency  that  has  been  subjected  to  anything  like  a rigid 
scrutiny  seems  to  fit  the  word  ‘gradual’  rather  than  ‘sudden’  in 
its  rate  of  maturing.  ” As  the  experience  of  the  writer,  covering  a 
period  of  a decade  and  a half  of  daily  class-room  work  with  chil- 
dren of  the  junior  high  school  age,  inclines  her  to  the  belief  that 
children  mature  rather  gradually  during  these  years,  we  shall 
base  our  consideration  of  the  problems  upon  that  theory.  Taking 
Dr.  Crampton’s  measurements  of  nearly  five  thousand  New  York 
City  boys  as  an  average,  we  reach  the  following  conclusions  re- 
garding boys  under  twelve  years  of  age,  that  the  proportion  of 
them  who  are  still  undifferentiated  children  is  so  great  that  the 
adolescent  boy  under  this  age  is  very  unusual.  No  statistics  on 
as  large  a scale  are  available  regarding  girls,  but  the  general  opin- 
ion is  that  girls  mature  fully  a year  younger  than  boys.  This 
still  leaves  the  overwhelming  majority  of  the  children  in  the  first 
six  grades  a practically  homogeneous  group  of  non-mat  ure  chil- 
dren. For  this  reason  we  find  that  the  work  of  grades  one  to  six 
is  accepted  by  practically  all  the  children  with  little  questioning 
or  protest. 

Dr.  Crampton’s  tables  prove  that  by  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  year,  over  eighty-five  per  cent  of  the  boys  under  obser- 
vation are  matured.  They  have  ceased  to  be  the  vital  problem 
in  adjustment  to  the  school  course  that  they  have  previously 
been.  The  case  is  even  more  markedly  true  with  girls;  those  con- 
tinuing in  school  until  their  sixteenth  year  usually  remaining  to 


10 


complete  their  high  school  course.  What  then  are  the  funda- 
mental principles  underlying  a proper  organization  of  subject 
matter  and  method  for  this  heterogeneous  group  of  thirteen  to 
fifteen  year  old  boys  and  girls? 

The  first  step  in  solving  the  problem  is  clearly  a definite 
recognition  of  the  physiological  phases  peculiar  to  this  period, 
for  even  considering  the  transition  from  childhood  to  manhood 
and  womanhood  to  be  somewhat  gradual  rather  than  saltatory, 
it  is  nevertheless  a season  of  greatest  importance  in  the  life  of  the 
individual  and  must  receive  particular  consideration.  To  quote 
Dr.  O’Shea,  “During  this  period  the  individual  is  being  molded 
in  flhal  form  in  body  and  mind,  and  whatever  impressions  can  be 
made  upon  him  at  this  time  will  be  likely  to  be  permanent.” 
The  school  course  for  this  group  of  Junior  High  School  pupils, 
while  not  formulated  to  humor  and  pamper  them,  should  take 
active  account  of  the  appearance  of  new  interests  and  activities, 
and  the  development  of  extreme  sensitiveness  to  various  influences 
which  characterizes  these  years.  Every  other  factor  in  a proper 
organization  of  work  for  the  Junior  High  School  pupil  must  take 
cognizance  of  the  kind  of  individual  both  physical  and  psychical 
that  he  is.  The  most  troublesome  factor  in  formulating  a course 
of  study  for  this  group  is  the  fact  that  there  is  great  variation  of 
maturity  within  the  group.  If  for  instance,  we  consider  fourteen 
years  as  the  average  age  at  which  boys  mature  we  must  make  an 
allowance  for  at  least  a year  and  a half  both  below  and  above  that 
age  for  variation  from  the  central  tendency.  As  girls  mature  a 
year  or  more  younger  than  boys  matters  are  complicated  still 
farther,  by  making  the  range  in  a group  composed  of  both  boys 
and  girls  cover  a period  of  at  least  four  years.  This  physiological 
condition  certainly  demands  at  least  two  important  reforms:  a 
greater  flexibility  in  the  curriculum  of  grades  seven,  eight  and  nine; 
and  greater  stress  in  discipline  and  in  teaching  upon  the  consid- 
eration of  each  pupil  as  an  individual. 

Prof.  Calvin  O.  Davis  speaks  of  the  crux  of  the  problem  and 
the  underlying  principles,  thus: 

“In  formulating  a program  of  studies  for  this  group  two 
guiding  educational  principles  need  to  be  kept  constantly  in  mind. 
First,  the  period  of  early  adolescence  is  a period  of  exploration  and 
of  self-discovery.  Young  people  at  this  age  are  prone  to  dream 


11 


dreams  and  inclined  to  see  visions.  Varied  and  unstable  ideals 
completely  fill  their  horizon.  But  the  power  of  persistent  effort 
toward  attainment  of  the  ideal  goals  is  usually  far  from  commen- 
surate with  the  strength  of  the  impelling  desire.  In  consequence, 
the  period  is  preeminently  a period  of  developing  the  power  of 
appreciation  of  forms  and  not  to  any  considerable  degree  a time 
for  the  mastery  of  principles.  The  early  years  of  adolescence 
should  be  years  of  self-testing  and  self-discovery,  and  the  Junior 
High  School  is  a testing-place  and  a testing-ground  wherein  op- 
portunities are  provided  for  ‘browsing  around’  and  for  disclosing 
aptitudes  and  interests.”  “Second,  once  these  dominant  talents 
have  been  revealed,  perfection  of  character  and  attainment  can 
be  gained  only  thru  a systematic  and  continuous  exercise  of  them.  ” 

Thus  while  we  shall  demand  a flexibility  of  the  curriculum 
for  our  Junior  High  School,  it  is  for  the  definite  purpose  of  giving 
the  individual  pupil  a chance  to  “find  himself. ” As  soon  as  this 
is  done  the  school  will  use  every  effort  to  strengthen  his  purpose  to 
make  a continuous  effort  to  attain  his  ideal  goal. 

Accepting  this  statement  of  the  problem,  what  definite  ad- 
vantages has  the  six-six  plan  over  the  old  eight-four  plan?  Under 
the  former  organization  the  child  is  initiated  into  the  work  of  the 
Junior  High  School  at  an  age  when  the  law  still  has  a hold  on  him. 
At  twelve  years  of  age  he  is  not  permitted  to  leave  school  to  go  to 
work.  The  departmental  plan  of  work  is  more  likely  to  interest 
him  as  each  subject  is  taught  by  a specialist  whose  enthusiasm  for 
his  subject  will  without  doubt  insure  better  work  from  the  stu- 
dent than  can  be  secured  where  all  subjects  are  taught  by  one 
teacher,  who  in  the  very  nature  of  things  cannot  be  equally  pro- 
ficient in  all  subjects.  Even  a little  added  enthusiasm  for  their 
school  work  would  keep  in  school  many  boys  and  girls  who  now 
drop  out  at  fourteen  years  of  age. 

In  a regular  Junior  High  School  pupils  are  promoted  by  sub- 
jects, which  is  an  advantage  in  many  ways.  A child  showing 
marked  ability  in  any  one  subject  may  often  with  a little  extra 
help  gain  a year  in  that  subject.  There  is  great  advantage  to 
pupils  in  this  organization  as  there  is  no  time-consuming  repeti- 
tion of  work  all  the  work  in  any  one  subject  being  planned  by  one 
teacher.  A child  failing  in  one  subject  has  the  encouraging  feeling 
that  altho  he  has  failed  in  one  he  has  succeeded  in  three  subjects 


12 


and  that  his  success  is  recognized  by  his  teachers.  He  attacks  the 
unmastered  subject  a second  time  with  a stouter  heart  because  of 
this  recognition  of  his  success. 

Many  boys  at  the  age  of  entrance  into  the  seventh  grade  are 
confronted  with  the  necessity  of  earning  some  money  toward 
their  own  support.  The  departmental  plan  makes  it  possible 
for  such  children  to  carry  a part  of  their  school  work  easily  and 
happily,  at  the  same  time  devoting  a part  of  their  time  and  energy 
to  some  lucrative  occupation.  While  it  requires  a longer  time 
for  pupils  thus  handicapped  to  complete  the  three  years  Junior 
High  School  work,  it  would  keep  many  a boy  and  girl  in  school 
who  under  the  present  system  has  dropped  out  and  is  spending  his 
time  unprofitably.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  proper  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  of  keeping  the  thirteen-to-fifteen-year-old 
children  interested  in  their  school  studies,  will  be  the  solution  of 
the  problem  of  a larger  percentage  attending  and  graduating 
from  our  high  schools. 

Girls,  during  these  years  when  they  should  be  carefully  shield- 
ed from  nervous  strain  are  often  seriously  overworked  under  the 
present  system.  The  Junior  High  School  properly  organized 
would  permit  a girl  to  attend  school  a part  of  each  day  leaving  the 
rest  of  her  time  free  for  outdoor  exercise  and  whatever  regime  is 
best  suited  to  insure  good  health  in  the  future.  The  schools 
have  not  in  the  past  given  sufficient  recognition  to  the  fact  that 
girls  need  much  time  and  energy  beside  that  required  for  school 
work.  A mother  surely  has  some  right  to  a definite  part  of  her 
daughter’s  time  each  day,  when  in  loving  cbmpanionship  the 
daughter  may  learn  from  her  mother  various  phases  of  home- 
craft. At  this  age  girls  are  interested  in  many  things,  and  time 
should  be  provided  for  special  work  in  art,  music,  athletics,  danc- 
ing, or  whatever  activity  the  tastes  and  talents  of  the  child  sug- 
gest. 

Two  vital  factors  in  the  success  of  the  Junior  High  School 
are  a course  of  study  adapted  to  the  special  needs  of  pupils  of  this 
age,  and  the  selection  of  teachers  who  by  training,  experience 
and  personality  are  peculiarly  fitted  for  this  work. 


12 


THE  CHILD’S  STUDY  OF  INDUSTRIES 

Clarice  Evans 

That  children’s  natural  activities  should  be  used  in  learning 
is  a reform  which  has  been  firmly  established  for  many  years 
This  idea  found  practical  expression  in  surprisingly  short  time. 
The  first  gropings  in  this  direction  were  manual  training  and 
domestic  science.  Some  reasons  for  their  so  rapidly  gaining  a 
place  are  that  they  produced  tangible  results;  pupils  who  could 
not  do  well  in  more  formal  abstract  studies  did  well  in  these;  their 
need  was  felt  in  economic  pressure.  Still  they  left  much  to  be  de- 
sired. They  did  not  help  the  elementary  school  child,  as  they 
were  seldom  given  before  the  sixth  grade.  They,  at  least  in  their 
earlier  developments,  were  wasteful  because  there  was  not  careful 
organization  within  the  subjects  themselves.  They  were  not 
closely  co-ordinated  with  the  rest  of  the  school  curriculum,  but 
were  given  as  isolated  subjects. 

Industrial  art  is  not  mere  handwork,  but  the  study  of  the 
processes  of  changing  raw  material  into  articles  of  higher  value. 
As  such  it  fills  the  long  felt  need  for  the  elementary  school.  The 
Speyer  School  curriculum  under  the  direction  of  Frederick  Bonser 
proves  that  the  study  of  industry,  the  materials  and  processes, 
may  be  just  as  carefully  organized  as  any  science.  His  plan  fol- 
lows the  needs  of  man,  namely,  food,  shelter,  clothing,  utensils, 
tools,  machines,  weapons,  and  records.  All  this  subject  matter 
may  be  worked  out  in  a series  of  projects  which  give  the  element- 
ary school  child  a chance  to  “learn  by  doing.  These  projects 
give  many  subjects  the  most  natural  and  obvious  correlations,  as 
for  instance  the  subject  of  shelter  worked  out  by  our  own  first 
grade  in  building  a doll’s  house.  It  motivated  the  arithmetic 
lessons  in  measuring  materials,  the  nature  study  on  trees,  art  as 
household  decoration,  beside  laying  the  foundation  for  history. 
Fundamental  lessons  taught  by  the  project  not  under  formal 
headings  might  be  mentioned  as  the  part  taken  by  various  work- 
men, proper  remuneration  of  workmen,  interdependence,  use  of 
tools,  muscular  control,  as  well  as  the  social  and  disciplinary 
values.  With  projects  on  food  and  clothing  as  worthy  a list 
might  be  made.  In  fact  with  the  exception  of  games,  music, 


14 


literature  and  art  given  from  the  appreciation  side,  industrial  arts 
might  well  be  a binding  tie  for  all  school  subjects. 

The  whole  aspect  of  the  school  room  is  now  changed  and  we 
find  instead  of  a “pouring  in”  of  facts  for  which  the  child  has  no 
real  need,  rather  a “drawing  out”  of  information  for  which  he  has 
a real  and  immediate  need. 

“Until  the  instincts  of  construction  and  production  are  sys- 
tematically laid  hold  of  in  the  years  of  childhood  and  youth,  until 
they  are  trained  in  social  directions,  enriched  by  historic  inter- 
pretation, controlled  and  illuminated  by  scientific  methods,  we 
certainly  are  in  no  position  even  to  locate  the  source  of  our  eco- 
nomic evils,  much  less  deal  with  them  efficiently.  Dewey. 


THE  AESTHETIC  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 
KINDERGARTEN 

Florence  Fairman  Stuckey 

If  the  Kindergarten  accepts  as  a statement  of  its  own  belief, 
Handford  Henderson’s  transferral  to  life  of  Milton’s  demands  for 
poetry,  that  it  be  “simple,  sensuous,  and  passionate”.  What 
does  it  do  to  make  real  that  ideal?  What  does  it  contribute  to 
the  richness  of  life?  What  means  does  it  employ  to  develop  in  a 
child’s  soul  that  love  of  fine  things  which,  like  the  magic  of  a bed 
of  glowing  coals  in  a bare  room,  has  the  power  to  make  an  other- 
wise straitened  life  opulent? 

I think  it  has  two  means : one,  the  use  of  sense  games,  which 
we  may  refer  to  as  the  mechanics  of  cultivation;  the  other,  the 
environment — the  world  of  nature  without,  and  within — the 
element  of  the  kindergarten  program  and  the  furnishings  of  the 
kindergarten  room. 

It  is  the  seeing-eye,  the  hearing-ear,  the  sensitive  hand  that 
brings  greatest  riches  to  the  waiting  spirit;  and  so  by  means  of 
sense  games  originated  or  suggested  by  Froebel,  and  developed 


15 


by  his  followers,  not  forgetting  many  of  a similar  nature  given  us 
by  the  Italian  Physician,  we  proceed  definitely  to  train  the  chil- 
dren’s senses. 

Elizabeth  sits  on  a little  red  chair  in  the  center  of  the  circle, 
her  hands  stretched  behind  her,  while  the  careful  Adelaide  selects 
from  a trayful  of  treasures  assembled  from  different  parts  of  the 
room  a certain  object  which  she  places  in  the  waiting  hands.  The 
curious  little  fingers  feel, — “I  have  a basket”,  says  Elizabeth. 
(Will  you  notice,  incidentally,  her  perfect  sentence?) 

Again,  as  we  sing  the  song — 

“ Two  little  windows  of  brown  or  blue 
Each  of  us  children  is  looking  thru”, 

George,  perhaps,  is  led  to  the  window,  and  after  a rapid  glance, 
turns  and  tells  us  what  he  has  seen. 

In  the  spring,  or  early  summer,  when  the  world  is  sweet  with 
bloom,  little  Thriza  closes  her  eyes  and  inhales  the  fragrance  of 
the  flower  Immacolata  has  chosen  from  the  several  kinds  in  the 
room. — Yes,  Thriza  is  right,  it  is  a lilac. 

Simple  games,  these,  and  many  like  them,  but  thru  them  are 
the  senses  quickened,  comparisons  are  made — from  comparisons 
comes  discrimination,  and  one  of  the  outgrowths  of  discrimina- 
tion, and  the  only  one  with  which  this  paper  is  concerned,  is  aes- 
thetic appreciation. 

That  “ Painters,  architects,  poets,  musicians,  are  the  hands 
and  voices  which  give  utterance  to  that  which  is  deepest  and  most 
vital  in  the  soul  of  a race  and  an  age”,  is  a cardinal  tenet  of  the 
kindergarten  creed,  and  to  bring  the  work  of  those  hands  and  the 
melody  of  those  voices  to  the  children  is  part  of  the  daily  effort  of 
every  kindergarten  worthy  the  name  of  her  calling. 

Let  us  trust  that  in  after  years  the  little  one  who  has  gazed 
with  admiration  upon  the  strong,  fine  lines  of  some  good  plaster 
cast  upon  the  cupboard  top  or  shelf,  will  feel  no  temptation  to 
purchase  the  cheap  and  gaudy  statuette  of  the  Nubian  slave  girl 
which  the  enterprising  keeper  of  a restaurant  at  the  comer  fondly 
imagines  beautifies  his  Lunch  Room.  May  that  same  child  re- 
main so  true  to  the  beauty  of  the  single  masterpiece,  a gracious 
Mother  and  Child  perhaps,  sole  picture  upon  the  Kindergarten 
walls — that  Evening  Prayer  in  three  colors,  partially  submerged 
by  gilt  frame,  will  be  as  a cry  to  the  deaf! 


16 


An  increasingly  great  effort  is  being  made  that  every  song 
used  in  the  Kindergarten  may  be  good;  and,  while  all  music  for 
children’s  marches  and  rhythms  must  be  simple,  it  need  never  be 
cheap.  So  much  for  music  in  development  of  the  program;  but 
music  for  its  own  glorious  sake  is  just  as  much  a part  of  the  con- 
sistent Kindergarten  as  is  the  Madonna  on  the  wall.  Local  con- 
ditions, of  course,  dictate  the  manner  of  its  presentation;  one 
Kindergarten  most  fortunate  in  that  respect  has  set  aside  the  last 
quarter  of  an  hour  Friday  morning  when  the  children  have  the 
privilege  of  entertaining  as  their  guest  one  who  plays  for  them  upon 
his  chosen  instrument,  or  sings  some  very  simple  child-like  song. 
It  may  be  that  a lullaby  is  to  be  played  and  perhaps  the  appeal 
of  the  imagination  will  be  added  to  that  of  the  senses — and  a 
brief  word-picture  will  be  drawn  of  the  tired  baby’s  bed-time  and 
the  children  asked  to  listen  in  the  music  for  the  rocking  cradle 
and  the  singing  mother; — perhaps  again,  there  will  be  neither 
comment  nor  appeal. 

How  these  wee  children  love  poetry — how  they  rejoice  in  its 
musical  lilt,  its  pulsing  rhythm!  Read  to  them  from  such  a col- 
lection as  “The  Posy  Ring”,  and  you  will  one  day  have  difficulty 
introducing  new  poems,  so  urgent  will  they  be  in  their  requests 
for  their  beautiful,  favorites.  They  have  been  known  to  choose 
poetry  in  preference  to  that  other  means  to  genuine  appreciation 
of  the  best  in  literature,  a good  story. 

Here  in  the  clean,  simple  Kindergarten,  where  a flaming  mapfte 
bough,  a white  hyacinth,  or  a jar  of  golden  daffodils  is  the  occasion 
for  a festival,  these  influences  in  behalf  of  the  beautiful  are  daily 
at  work. 

Out  of  doors,  the  children’s  attention  is  directed  to  the  blue, 
blue  sky — with  its  scudding  clouds,  to  the  gorgeous  sunset, — to 
the  winter  heavens  with  their  majestic  stars;  to  autumns’  ember 
glow,  and  the  misty  green  of  spring,  tender  background  for  the 
children’s  own  well-loved  “Pretty  little  blue  bird”! 

Such  are  some  of  the  efforts  of  the  Kindergarten  to  render 
life  more  sensuously  beautiful — richer  spiritually.  If  this  plant- 
ing of  Paul  be  watered  by  Apollos,  who  can  measure  what  may  be 
the  increase  given  by  God? 


17 


PLAY  ELEMENTS  IN  PRIMARY  EDUCATION 

Genevieve  Kirkbride 

It  was  while  he  was  looking  on  with  delight  at  the  plays  of 
little  children,  their  happy  busy  plan  and  make-believes,  their 
intense  interest  in  outward  nature  and  in  putting  things  together 
or  taking  them  apart,  that  Froebel  said  to  himself,  ‘"What  if  we 
could  give  the  child  that  which  is  called  education  through  his 
voluntary  activities,  and  have  him  always  as  he  is  at  play!” 

Our  sincere  study  of  child  nature  must  accomplish  two  things : 
first,  conserve  the  biological  succession  under  the  best  physio- 
logical conditions,  thereby  conserving  desirable  hereditary  traits 
and  powers  and  effecting  the  best  possible  organic  development; 
second,  devote  those  powers  to  the  acquiring  of  such  knowledge 
and  such  habits  as  will  best  further  the  child’s  social  usefulness 
and  individual  happiness. 

The  child’s  earliest  development  comes  through  play,  then 
his  education  must  begin  with  his  play.  The  plea  for  a wider 
recognition  of  play  in  education  is  that  the  more  successfully  the 
child  passes  through  the  biological  stages  of  development  the 
more  complete  will  he  be  as  a man.  In  play  the  whole  child  takes 
part;  and  it  is  only  by  training  the  whole  child  that  we  may  de- 
termine habits,  cultivate  emotions,  and  furnish  motive  for  his 
subsequent  action. 

But  it  is  in  the  interpretation  of  play  that  the  difficulty  comes. 
Play  has  often  been  confounded  either  with  idleness  or  exercise, 
and  deemed  only  a useless  waste  of  energy  which  might  better  be 
devoted  to  some  task.  Play  is  here  thought  of  as  “fooling”  and 
is  contrasted  with  work  as  meaning  distasteful  tasks.  The  joy- 
ousness of  either  work  or  play  comes  from  the  same  sources: 
first,  pleasure  of  exertion,  which  pleasure  may  be  from  surplus 
energy,  desire  to  imitate  or  instinctive  tendency,  but  it  is  natural ; 
second,  pleasure  of  achievement,  something  to  do;  third,  coopera- 
tion, the  joy  of  acting  together;  fourth,  satisfaction  of  exercise  of 
intelligence,  judgment  or  skill;  fifth,  the  encountering  of  risks, 
dangers  or  adventures. 

There  need  be  no  distinction  between  work  and  play.  Chil- 
dren like  to  work;  and  again  their  play  may  have  an  end  that  is 


18 


in  itself  worthy  of  the  effort.  Certainly  one  of  the  aims  of  educa- 
tion is  to  develop  the  joyousness  in  work,  and  this  can  be  accom- 
plished by  using  the  means  and  sources  naturally  used  by  the 
child  in  play,  by  transferring  the  habits  of  play  to  work — not 
making  work  play,  but  by  studying  the  child  at  play  to  learn  the 
natural  desires  of  the  child,  and  using  these  in  his  work. 

Education  in  harmony  with  the  child’s  development  makes 
habitual  a happy  attidude  of  mind  in  both  work  and  play.  Work 
of  the  primary  department  of  our  schools  is  not  play,  but  it  may 
be  pleasant  work  and  may  give  forth  the  joy  and  satisfaction  of 
play. 

In  a study  of  children  at  the  age  they  are  in  the  primary  grades 
certain  characteristics  are  discovered.  In  contrast  with  an  earlier 
period  when  one  of  the  purposes  of  education  is  acquiring  sensa- 
tions, non-sensations  are  organized  and  utilized.  Earlier  imita- 
tions are  largely  direct  imitations  of  movements  and  sounds  of 
adults;  these  imitations  are  continued,  but  less  directly,  and  are 
adapted  to  play  of  their  own;  and  imagination  forms  them  anew. 
The  earlier  play  is  free  activity,  activity  for  its  own  sake  and  not 
for  results.  At  the  primary  school  age  the  end  to  be  accomplished 
is  considered,  but  crude  results  are  accepted.  Group  play  has 
begun,  but  within  the  group  each  child  is  an  individual  and  “team 
work”  is  not  very  satisfactory.  There  are  many  ways  in  which 
the  activity,  imitation,  imagination,  constructions  and  collections 
of  this  age  can  be  of  real  and  valuable  service  to  the  primary  teach- 
er. Real  play',  such  as  running,  skipping,  and  playing  ball,  adds 
spirit  and  zest  to  the  life  of  children  and  teacher,  and  a common 
basis  of  experience  is  established;  characters  are  studied,  learned, 
and  understood,  and  surplus  or  misdirected  energy  is  put  to  some 
good  use.  Some  teachers  have  feared  that  the  familiarity  that 
comes  through  play  might  lead  to  disrespect,  accepting  the  old 
saying,  “Familiarity  breeds  contempt”.  One  author  has  ex- 
plained that  familiarity  shows  us  as  we  are  and  does  not  bring 
contempt  unless  we  are  contemptible.  Thru  play  the  child  will 
know  us  as  we  are. 

Free  play  supplies  exercise,  relaxation,  experience  and  con- 
trol. Representative  play  gives  expression  to  impulses  resulting 
from  observation  and  imitation.  In  playing  fire,  for  example, 
the  child  impersonates  the  fireman  whom  he  has  seen  and  admired. 


19 


And  it  is  the  thing  the  fireman  does  that  the  child  most  admires — 
the  child’s  activity  is  always  objective.  Thru  his  natural  fond- 
ness for  representing  he  may  learn  the  activities  of  many  types  of 
people,  such  as  the  baker,  carpenter  and  shoe-maker.  As  he  imi- 
tates, he  understands,  not  always  the  process  but  the  purpose. 

Dramatic  play  is  the  means  of  expression  that  uses  repre- 
sentation plus  speech.  Not  only  does  the  child  represent  the 
troll  in  the  Billy  Goat  Gruff  story,  but  he  lives  the  life  of  the  troll, 
he  speaks  the  language  of  the  troll,  and  he  experiences  the  fears 
of  the  troll,  when  Great  Big  Billy  Goat  Gruff  bears  down  upon 
him.  As  a result  of  dramatization  the  child  gains  pleasure,  con- 
fidence, language  and  control.  Constructive  play,  as  in  building 
a doll  house  and  making  furniture  , for  it,  gives  opportunity  for 
oral  expression,  material  for  language  and  reading,  and  experience 
for  study  of  arithmetic.  There  is  no  better  opportunity  for 
training  for  careful  measurement  than  when  selecting  strips  for 
the  four  legs  of  a chair  or  the  four  posts  of  a table.  We  do  not 
need  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  the  several  windows  are  going  to 
be  the  same  size  or  that  the  walls  must  be  measured  before  count- 
ing on  the  necessary  amount  of  wall  paper. 

The  collecting  instinct  is  utilized  in  gathering  of  buds,  keeping 
count  of  birds  seen  in  a season  or  flowers  gathered,  all  these  facts 
to  be  recorded  in  a Nature  Study  class.  Here  too  is  an  oppor- 
tunity to  use  desire  for  adventure,  in  excursions  and  trips  for  ma- 
terials and  experiences. 

Primary  history  is  planned  with  the  knowledge  that  at  this 
time  nothing  will  please  the  child  better  than  to  be  a “Tree 
Dweller”  or  “Cave  Man”,  living  their  lives,  using  their  imple- 
ments, and  meeting  their  difficulties. 

Teachers  without  experience  look  upon  this  phase  of  school 
work  as  something  so  intangible,  and  so  it  is  but  love  and  sympathy 
will  make  a teacher  inventive  in  the  use  of  the  play  elements  in 
the  primary  grades.  A teacher  who  proves  able  to  be  a captain 
in  a game  or  leader  in  a play  is  worthy  to  be  followed  in  work  tasks 
as  well. 


20 


A BRIEF  FOR  THE  TEACHING  OF  HISTORY 

l 

Laurie  Doolittle 

An  individual  requires  superior  poise  to  select  from  the  multi- 
plicity of  activities  that  crowd  upon  him  just  those  that  will  best 
contribute  to  his  living  a satisfyingly  rich  and  serviceable  life. 
To  make  this  selection  and  retain  sympathy  for  a wide  range  of 
activities  is  a task  fit  for  a sage. 

The  school,  no  less  than  the  individual,  feels  the  pressure  of 
our  complex  life,  and  the  crowded  curriculum  is  the  result.  This 
condition  makes  it  necessary  that  there  be  a good  and  sufficient 
reason  for  the  presence  of  every  subject  found  in  the  course  of 
study.  The  value  of  those  subjects  whose  purpose  is  to  furnish 
the  child  tools  with  which  to  pursue  his  education,  is  so  self-evi- 
dent that  a statement  of  their  value  is  no  longer  necessary.  The 
same  is  true,  to  a lesser  degree,  in  regard  to  those  subjects  whose 
purpose  is  to  develop  skill  in  the  occupations  and  industries. 
Even  the  content  subjects  are  now  taken  as  a foregone  conclusion; 
and  this  very  fact  has  caused  the  teacher  of  history  to  assume  an 
attitude  that  limits  the  educational  value  of  the  subject. 

For  years  it  has  been  conceded  that  the  study  of  history  con- 
tributes much  to  the  development  of  the  individual.  The  most 
patent  and  widely  accepted  value  is  that  it  trains  for  citizenship 
and  develops  patriotism.  It  has  been  said,  also,  that  it  appeals 
to  the  dramatic  instinct  and  aids  in  the  interpretation  of  literature. 
“It  teaches  man  how  small  he  is  by  showing  him  many  greater 
and  purges  him  of  conceit  by  revealing  his  fancied  originalities 
as  a commonplace  of  centuries  gone.  It  overthrows  his  dogma- 
tism by  proving  to  him  that  other  men,  no  less  honest  than  he, 
and  much  wiser,  have  been  mistaken  in  their  judgment.”  It 
shows  him  that  he  is  one  of  a long  line  of  men  and  that  all  which 
these  men  have  accomplished  is  his  heritage  and  that  all  he  can 
do  he  owes  to  others.  It  develops  sympathy  for  it  shows  how 
individuals  and  institutions  have  grown  out  of  the  past.  It 
aids  in  developing  the  judicial  attitude.  The  Report  of  the 
Committee  of  Eight  says:  “In  ordinary  classroom  work  in 

science  and  mathematics,  there  is  little  opportunity  for  discussion, 
for  differences  of  opinion,  for  balancing  of  probabilities,  and  yet 
in  every  day  life  we  do  not  deal  with  mathematical  demonstra- 


21 


tions  or  concern  ourselves  with  scientific  observations;  we  reach 
conclusions  by  judicious  consideration  of  circumstances  and  con- 
ditions, some  of  them  in  apparent  conflict  with  one  another;  and 
none  of  them  susceptible  of  exact  measurements  or  demonstra- 
tions. ” History  also  develops  “ historical  thinking/’  that  is, 
the  ability  to  judge  men  and  movements  in  the  light  of  chronology 
and  ethnology. 

Other  subjects  as  well  as  history,  may  have  the  above  named 
functions;  but  the  special  function  of  history  is  to  develop  patriot- 
ism, good  citizenship,  the  judicial  attitude,  and  historical  thinking. 
To  secure  these  results  and  meet  the  conditions  imposed  by  modem 
life  there  must  be  adjustments  in  the  material  and  the  method  in 
history,  perhaps  more  than  is  necessary  in  any  other  subject  of 
the  school  curriculum.  When  these  adjustments  are  made,  his- 
tory can  indeed  make  good  the  claim  for  an  important  place  in  the 
school  program. 

The  value  of  the  results  peculiar  to  history  depends  largely 
upon  a well  thotout  curriculum  and  the  point  of  view  of  the 
teacher;  in  other  words  it  makes  necessary  a nice  discrimination 
of  facts  as  well  as  a correct  method  of  presentation.  For  example, 
the  wart  on  Cromwell’s  nose  may  be  an  interesting  fact  but  not 
particularly  significant  in  the  development  of  the  Commonwealth 
in  England. 

The  value  of  the  judicial  attitude  has  been  adequately  set 
forth  by  the  Committee  of  Eight.  It  leads  to  the  “suspended 
judgment.”  The  judicial  attitude  waits  for  all  the  evidence  and 
acts  in  accord  with  its  conclusions. 

Patriotism  taught  thru  history  should  discriminate  between 
blind  loyalty  to  the  leaders  of  a nation  and  devotion  to  the  highest 
humanitarian  ideals  for  which  a nation  stands.  This  undiscrim- 
inating kind  of  patriotism  may  be  held  responsible  for  the  strong 
nationalism  of  the  present;  and  is  of  questionable  value  when  one 
contemplates  the  nations  of  Europe  engaged  in  a struggle  that 
seems  to  have  no  other  reason  than  this  sort  of  patriotism;  that 
is  patriotism  interpreted  by  loyalty  to  leaders  rather  than  devotion 
to  the  highest  ideals  of  a nation  in  its  relation  to  humanity. 

H.  Morse  Stephens,  President  of  the  American  Historical 
Association  in  a recent  address  before  the  Association  says:  “The 
belief  in  nationality  has  been  in  the  nineteenth  century  as  funda- 


22 


mental  a doctrine  as  the  belief  in  Christianity,  or  a monarchy,  or 
an  aristocracy  in  previous  ages.  Just  as  a fervent  belief  based  on 
history  and  dogmatic  theology  led  to  a belief  in  the  righteousness 
of  slaying  Mohammedans  in  the  period  of  the  crusades;  just  as  a 
fervent  belief  in  Catholicism  or  Lutheranism  or  Calvinism  based 
upon  history  and  dogmatic  theology  was  held  to  justify  religious 
persecution  and  religious  wars  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries  in  Europe;  just  as  a fervent  belief  in  different  political 
theories  led,  in  part  at  least,  to  the  civil  wars  in  England  in  the 
seventeenth  century  and  in  the  United  States  of  America  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  as  has  the  doctrine  of  nationality  led  to  the 
enmity  of  nations  in  the  nineteenth  century.  Historians  have 
had  their  share  in  creating  and  justifying  the  fervor  of  political 
beliefs  in  the  past,  they  have  had  their  share  in  creating  and 
maintaining  the  fanaticism  of  the  present.  ” 

If  historians  share  in  creating  and  maintaining  the  fanaticism 
of  nationality,  the  teachers  of  history  must  also  share  the  re- 
sponsibility as  they  have  done  all  in  their  power  to  foster  it.  This 
has  been  done  thru  a mistaken  notion  of  patriotism — a notion  that 
patriotism  is  loyalty  to  leaders  or  individuals  in  power,  instead  of 
devotion  to  the  highest  ideals  for  which  a nation  stands. 

“Our  country!  In  her  intercourse  with  other  nations  may 
she  always  be  right,  but  our  country  right  or  wrong” ; this  declara- 
tion, found  heading  the  editorial  page  of  one  of  our  leading  daily 
newspapers,  substitutes  loyalty  to  country  for  devotion  to  hu- 
manity. The  study  of  history  should  clarify  any  such  notion  of 
patriotism.  It  should  lead  to  a clear  understanding  of  the  fact 
that  a nation  rises  no  higher  than  the  mass  of  the  people  who  con- 
stitute it;  and  the  highest  loyalty  to  a nation  is  coincident  with  the 
broadest  sympathy  with  humanity.  This  is  the  quality  of  pa- 
triotism that  should  come  thru  history  study;  it  helps  the  indi- 
vidual to  make  such  adjustments  as  will  secure  the  best  possible 
relationship  to  the  community.  This  is  the  essence  of  good 
citizenship. 

History  renders  another  fundamental  service  by  developing 
in  the  individual  power  to  do  what  has  been  called  “historical 
thinking”;  that  is  the  power  to  judge  men  and  movements  eth- 
nologically  and  chronologically.  In  some  way  or  other,  the  fact 
that  chronology  and  ethnology  do  not  always  coincide  must  be- 
come an  integral  part  of  the  individual’s  thinking.  The  idea  of 


23 


race  solidarity  should  come  thru  history  study;  and  this  may  be 
secured  by  an  intelligent  interpretation  of  a properly  organized 
course  of  study. 

Neither  the  elementary  nor  the  high  school  can  be  expected 
to  give  the  student  sufficient  power  to  make  broad  generalizations; 
but  history  teaching  should  give  him  the  truths  and  the  power  of 
dealing  with  them  that  will  enable  the  adult  to  form  intelligent 
judgments  of  men,  movements  and  events.  In  order  to  do  this, 
history  must  give  a longitudinal  view  of  racial  and  institutional 
development.  This  leads  to  an  understanding  of  what  man  has 
done  under  varying  conditions  and  the  results  that  are  shown  in 
the  present  status  of  the  race.  The  student  becomes,  not  only 
familiar  with  the  deeds  of  men  but  takes  into  account  the  char- 
acter of  reactions  of  man  at  various  stages  of  racial  development; 
he  sees  that  savage  man  reacts  in  one  way  to  a given  stimulus 
while  civilized  man  reacts  in  a wholly  different  manner.  For 
instance  some  reactions  that  were  usual  and  right  during  the  middle 
ages  would  be  very  unusual  and  wrong  at  present.  An  act  highly 
commendable  in  a former  time  may  be  wholly  reprehensible  now 
In  the  days  of  the  Roman  Republic,  Regulus  thot  it  wise  to  dis- 
arm the  provinces,  forbid  intercourse  and  even  incite  wars  between 
the  provinces,  that  they  might  not  unite  and  make  war  on  Rome. 

Such  policies  survived  for  many  years.  But  the  twentieth 
century  leader  appreciates  too  much  the  value  of  cooperation  to 
incite  jealous  rivalries  in  his  party.  If  any  student  of  history 
should  observe  such  a short-sighted  policy  in  force  today  he  would 
recognize  it  as  a survival  of  a past  age.  He  would  place  its  author 
with  his  proper  label  in  the  ethnic  pigeon-hole  assigned  to  the 
second  century  B.  C.  History  teaches  there  is  a fashion  of  thot 
just  as  surely  as  there  is  a fashion  of  dress,  and  the  thotful  indi- 
vidual would  no  more  wish  to  show  medieval  habits  of  thot  than 
he  would  wish  to  appear  in  a medieval  costume.  Time  and  cir- 
cumstances determine  the  wisdom  of  deeds;  righteousness  and 
wisdom  are  evolutionary.  This  seems  to  be  a very  important 
function  of  history  study. 

The  teacher  of  history  must  be  held  responsible  for  a large 
share  of  the  background  that  determines  the  philosophy  of  life; 
and  this  is,  I believe,  the  intrinsic  value  of  history  and  the  funda- 
mental reason  why  history  should  have  an  important  place  in  the 
school  program. 


24 


THE  ROLE  OF  THE  PRACTICE  SCHOOL  IN 
THE  LATER  PREPAREDNESS  THROUGH 
SCHOOL  EDUCATION 

Susie  Barnes 

It  is  not  the  aim  of  this  article  to  discuss  abstractly  the  value 
of  the  Practice  School,  nor  to  argue  for  its  maintenance  in  a pro- 
fessional school  for  teachers.  All  that  is  settled. 

The  time  was  when  purely  academic  attainment  was  deemed 
a sufficient  qualification  for  teaching  school,  just  as  our  forbears 
were  content  in  case  of  illness  with  the  scant  skill  of  the  Indian 
medicine  man  and  the  quack  doctor,  provided  they  carried  pouches 
or  saddle-bags  well  filled  with  herbs  and  roots.  Modern  civiliza- 
tion demands  not  only  the  content  of  a profession  but  also  the 
stamp  of  successful  practical  experience.  It  is  idle  talk  to  con- 
tend that  an  individual,  because  he  can  sing  a song  to  the  satis- 
faction of  his  hearers  or  relate  glibly  the  wisdom  of  ancient  lore, 
is  able  without  further  preparation  to  teach  most  successfully 
any  group  of  vitalized  beings  what  they  are  capable  of  learning 
and  what  is  of  use  for  them  to  know. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  the  administration  of  this  institution  to 
make  the  Practice  School  of  use  to  every  member  of  the  faculty  in 
the  Normal  School  whose  subject  is  taught  in  the  Practice  depart- 
ment. It  is,  therefore,  to  the  entire  body  of  instructors,  the 
school  of  applied  doctrines  about  teaching. 

Every  member  of  the  Normal  School  faculty  teaching  stu- 
dents of  College  rank  has  the  limits  of  his  own  vision  circumscribed, 
not  by  the  walls  of  the  local  institution,  but  by  the  boundaries 
of  the  schoolhouses  and  communities  where  his  students  are  to 
teach.  The  success  of  a normal  school  teacher,  depends  on  the 
results  attained,  by  the  application  of  his  theories,  made  by  his 
students  on  their  students.  It  is,  therefore,  highly  important, 
that  the  Normal  School  teacher  should  have  opportunity  to  try 
out  his  methods,  in  order  to  find  out  whether  they  work,  before 
giving  them  to  others  for  use.  This,  every  member  of  the  faculty 
has  opportunity  to  do  in  the  department  of  practice.  He  may  also 
use  groups  of  children  to  demonstrate  to  students  certain  theories 
already  tried  out  by  him  but  which  could  not  otherwise  be  made 


25 


so  clear.  By  observing  a student  teach,  one  is  often  able  to  see 
how  inadequate  has  been  the  help  given  him,  and  so  an  instructor 
may  consequently  be  led  through  the  Practice  School  teaching  to 
strengthen  his  own  work  or  supply  additional  needed  materials 
to  his  classes.  Young  people  are  very  imitative  and  many  times 
when  they  go  before  a class  of  children,  teach  them,  not  as  they 
have  been  taught  to  do,  but  imitatively  after  the  manner  of  their 
own  instructors.  Teachers  of  personality  and  power  frequently 
change  their  methods  of  procedure  in  many  respects  when  they 
see  those  methods  tried  out  on  children  by  their  imitators.  If 
any  one  believes  that  abstract  academic  attainment  is  a sufficient 
guarantee  of  successful  teaching  ability,  let  him  supervise  for  a 
while  in  the  Practice  School  and  ere  long  he  will  get  his  erroneous 
views  corrected.  After  a period  of  supervision  in  the  practice 
school,  some  members  of  the  faculty  so  present  the  values  of  the 
department  to  their  classes  that  students  seek  admittance  for 
enrollment  charged  with  an  ambition  to  try  out  their  ideas  in 
actual  teaching.  In  some  cases  the  earliest  criticisms  and  direc- 
tions given  by  supervisors  have  been  largely  academic  in  content. 
When  observed  that  such  aid,  though  important,  is  not  sufficient, 
the  corrections  have  taken  on  a more  pedagogic  flavor  to  the 
great  improvement  of  the  practice  teaching. 

In  this  normal  school,  in  addition  to  the  six  supervisors  and 
one  director  who  spend  their  entire  time  in  the  Practice  school, 
there  are  on  an  average  twelve  members  of  the  academic  faculty 
each  quarter  who  spend  an  hour  or  more  every  day  in  the  prac- 
tice department  assisting  in  supervising,  organizing  and  directing 
the  work.  The  departments  represented  by  these  instructors  are 
mathematics,  English,  science,  home  economics,  manual  arts, 
fine  arts,  German,  Latin,  physical  education,  and  music.  This 
is  not  the  extent  of  cooperation  with  the  Practice  school,  however, 
as  other  members  of  the  faculty,  especially  of  the  Departments  of 
history  and  geography,  render  and  receive  mutual  aid  and  may 
at  any  time  assist  in  supervising,  according  to  the  exigency  of 
the  occasion.  A member  of  the  science  department  assisted  by 
the  teachers  of  physical  education  and  the  teacher  of  reading  and 
speaking  is  making  a diagnostic  chart  of  each  child.  These  charts 
give  the  results  of  examination  of  skeletal  defects,  malnutrition 
dental  defects,  nasal  obstructions,  deafness,  eye-strain,  nervous- 
ness, and  speech  defects.  All  such  developmental  deficiencies 


26 


and  imperfections  every  teacher  should  be  able  to  make  diagnosis 
and  prognosis  of  and  advise  treatment  concerning  in  home  and 
school.  The  results  of  these  examinations  will  be  brought  to  the 
attention  of  all  student  teachers  and  others  in  the  school  who  are 
making  special  investigations  and  study  in  the  direction  of  the 
physical  development  and  care  of  the  health  of  children. 

The  traditional  education  considered  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  elementary  school  consists  of  two  fundamental  factors.  On 
the  one  hand  is  an  undeveloped,  animated,  sentient,  resilient 
being;  on  the  other  hand  are  the  organized  generalizations  from 
the  matured  experiences  of  the  civilized  race,  classified  into  sub- 
jects of  study.  Getting  the  one  in  possession  of  the  other  has 
been  the  burden  of  the  educative  process.  The  obvious  way 
seemed  to  be  to  isolate  the  creature  from  his  fellows,  inside  a bit 
of  furniture  where  movement  is  practically  impossible,  have  him 
listen  or  read  and  then  say  back  until  he  remembers.  This  form 
of  confinement  and  oppression  has  often  resulted  in  making  the 
sensitive  human  subjects  miserable  and  so  they  have  frequently 
sought  to  evade  it  by  mischievous  conduct,  staying  away  from 
school,  or  dropping  out  altogether  as  soon  as  the  law  would  allow. 
Parents  have  not  always  conspired  to  force  attendance  because 
they  have  not  been  able  to  see  adequate  returns.  When  the  boys 
and  girls  have  remained  in  school  to  the  end  of  the  course,  they 
either  forget  what  they  have  learned  or  else  are  not  able  to  use 
their  store  of  knowledge.  Employers  report  that  these  young 
people  are  not  able  to  cope  with  the  situations  they  must  meet  in 
business.  The  higher  institutions  of  learning  find  them  incom- 
petent for  the  tasks  they  impose.  Learning  that  demands  a 
docile,  passive,  subservient  attitude  of  mind  produces  easy  sub- 
jects for  the  comparatively  few  trust  managers  and  political  bosses. 
The  appeal  of  the  modern  picture  show,  ragtime  music,  cheap 
literature,  and  the  bizarre  in  dress  and  ornament  is  sufficient  proof 
that  the  traditional  schools  have  failed  in  inculcating  proper 
taste  in  pleasures,  recreations,  and  amusements.  All  of  these 
conditions  are  contributing  evidences  that  the  old  education  is 
leaving  the  contemporary  generation  in  a melancholy  state  of 
unpreparedness. 

Then  what  shall  the  schoolmasters  do  to  remedy  these  de- 
fects. What  shall  be  the  characteristics  of  the  new  school? 

If  the  end  and  aim  of  education  were  to  secure  the  ability  to 


27 


sit  silently  in  an  uncomfortable  seat  for  hours,  day  after  day;  the 
ability  to  read  books  and  repeat  accurately  their  contents;  the 
ability  to  give  ear  and  be  passive  and  receptive;  the  ability  to  do 
all  this  with  lock  step  advancement,  then  the  methods  of  the  tra- 
ditional education  would  be  a success,  if  they  could  be  enforced. 
But  after  a period  of  from  six  to  twelve  years  in  this  sort  of  prac- 
tice, society  demands  ability  in  a different  way.  The  race  re- 
quires of  its  posterity  that  it  be  capable  of  carrying  on  the  work 
of  the  world,  and  that  is  not  done  by  those  skilled  in  sitting  si- 
lently, but  by  those  skilled  in  acting  and  doing.  One  able  to 
express  in  his  actions  another’s  ideas  and  not  his  own  fulfills 
Plato’s  description  of  a slave  but  does  not  fulfill  the  modern  de- 
mand for  persons  capable  of  carrying  out  the  productions  of 
their  own  creative  imaginations,  and  making  right  judgments 
with  respect  to  persons  and  things.  Outside  the  schoolroom,  the 
passive  and  receptive  are  not  sought,  but  the  alert  and  active. 
Society  demands  that  in  its  future  self  the  needs  of  all  should  be 
met  and  the  highest  capabilities  of  each  individual  be  realized. 
This  cannot  be  done  with  the  lock  step  uniformity  of  the  average 
school. 

If  this  delineation  of  the  traditional  education  seems  over- 
drawn, harsh,  and  unadorned,  compare  it  with  your  own  chil- 
hood  experiences,  or  step  inside  the  classroom  of  most  any  well 
ordered  school  and  you  will  observe  that  the  teacher  is  doing 
practically  all  the  work  while  the  children  are  crowded  into  im- 
movable seats  with  heads  erect,  arms  folded,  answering  questions, 
listening  and  absorbing,  while  the  world  outside  is  demanding 
men  and  women  of  action,  spontaneity,  and  initiative. 

Why  did  the  schools  seem  for  so  long  to  meet  the  needs? 
In  the  first  place  the  learned  professions  have  usually  been  well 
provided  for  and  these  may  include  the  profession  of  school  teach- 
ing as  schools  have  been  taught — the  memorizing  of  facts  from 
books  and  giving  them  back  to  someone  else.  Schoolmasters 
have  had  rightly  the  making  of  courses  of  study  and  management 
of  education.  They  have  failed  to  see,  since,  they  were  being 
prepared  for  their  work,  that  the  great  mass  of  human  beings  were 
not  being  prepared  for  theirs  by  the  system  of  preparation  used. 

The  future  citizens  were  being  educated  for  life’s  work,  how- 
ever, outside  of  the  school.  As  Dr.  Dewey  has  well  described,  a 


28 


few  decades  ago  practically  all  the  necessities  of  life  were  produced 
in  the  household  or  neighborhood.  All  the  mysteries  of  the 
finished  product  from  the  growth  of  the  raw  material  through 
various  processes  of  transformation  were  exposed  for  the  observa- 
tion and  examination  of  the  growing  generation.  And  not  only 
that,  but  as  soon  as  age  and  capacity  permitted,  every  member  of 
the  household  participated  in  whatever  was  necessary  to  be  done. 
So  when  the  time  was  ripe  for  the  young  men  and  women  to  es- 
tablish homes  and  take  upon  themselves  the  economic  responsi- 
bility of  making  a living,  they  had  all  the  mental  and  physical 
equipment  necessary.  Now  practically  all  the  products  are 
bought  ready  for  use  from  the  stores.  And  the  money  to  purchase 
them  must  be  earned  in  some  trade,  profession,  or  business. 

To  attempt  to  require  children  to  learn  all  the  facts  concern- 
ing all  the  trades,  departments  of  business  and  professions  of 
modern  civilization  would  be  impossible.  To  require  them  in 
groups  to  learn  one  trade,  business,  or  profession  would  result  in 
forced  stratification  and  hence  would  be  undemocratic. 

Then  what  shall  the  schools  do  today  to  satisfy  the  ambitions 
of  the  race  for  tomorrow?  All  agree  that  we  must  retain  the  best 
that  civilization  has  worked  out  and  recorded  for  future  use. 
This  we  shall  take  as  a guide  in  our  course  of  study  in  science,  in 
history,  in  the  arts,  in  the  industries,  in  pleasures  and  recreations. 
From  the  records  and  from  the  environment  we  shall  choose  ty- 
ical  occupations,  scenes,  events  and  amusements  according  to  the 
stage  of  ability  of  the  child,  and  actually  live  them  out  through 
activities  as  nearly  as  the  limits  of  school  appliances  will  allow. 
While  doing  this,  we  shall  give  the  children  liberty  to  use  their 
powers  of  initiative  and  resourcefulness  and  their  natural  instinct 
to  move,  to  do,  and  to  aqjt.  This  substitution  of  real  work  in 
the  various  activities  of  life,  (as  nearly  as  we  can  bring  it  about) 
for  the  committing  of  facts  and  laws  to  memory  gives  an  under- 
standing of  conditions,  institutions,  surroundings,  and  occupations 
so  that  choice  of  a vocation  need  not  be  limited  by  the  dictation  of 
necessity;  and  active  participation  in  an  embryonic  social  com- 
munity effort,  freed  from  economic  stress  tests  out  the  ability 
and  natural  aptitude  of  each  individual  and  develops  social  power 
and  insight.  Such  a school  as  this,  and  there  are  many  of  them 
throughout  the  country,  this  Normal  School  through  its  Practice 
School  is  attempting  to  establish. 


29 


To  give  the  details  of  the  activities  of  such  a school  would 
mean  to  write  a course  of  study  which  the  limits  of  this  paper  do 
not  allow.  But  from  these  bare  statements  it  is  obvious  that 
through  such  a school  the  objections  to  the  traditional  school  will 
have  been  met.  Children  take  pleasure  in  being  active.  They 
want  guidance  and  direction  but  flee  from  repression,  suppression 
and  dictation.  It  is  a commonplace  that  what  we  learn  by  doing 
we  know  and  can  use.  Outside  the  schoolroom,  we  believe  in 
practicing  on  the  thing  we  want  to  learn  to  do.  Then  why  not 
in  the  schoolroom,  if  the  desirable  thing  is  to  become  useful  citi- 
zens, let  the  children  practice  actually  doing  the  things  useful 
citizens  do.  If  it  is  necessary,  in  maintaining  the  democratic  or- 
ganization, for  each  one  on  arriving  at  maturity  to  choose  his 
business,  trade,  or  profession,  then  through  the  eight  or  twelve 
years  he  is  preparing  for  this  choice,  let  him  have  opportunity  to 
get  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  types  of  many  forms  of  occupa- 
tions so  that  he  may  choose  according  to  his  highest  ability  and 
natural  aptitude,  and  through  these  various  experiences  have  a 
sympathetic  understanding  with  all  the  rest.  What  children  gain 
by  such  a schooling  in  power,  insight,  self  control,  the  spirit  of 
industry  and  cooperation  can  best  be  told  by  those  who  have  di- 
rected them  through  such  study. 

That  the  course  of  study  and  methods  of  teaching  have 
reached  a state  of  completeness  is  not  claimed  by  the  advocates  of 
the  “new  education”,  but  that  results  so  far  attained  are  highly 
gratifying  is  the  least  that  may  be  said  in  favor  of  the  “new  school.” 

The  organization  and  function  of  the  Practice  School  with 
respect  first,  to  the  faculty  of  the  institution  and  second,  with  re- 
spect to  the  children  have  been  briefly  sketched.  It  now  remains 
to  discuss  the  last  part  of  this  article  by  outlining  a few  ends  stu- 
dents may  hope  to  attain  by  coming  into  active  relations  with 
the  Practice  department. 

Persons  whose  intellectual  interests  are  dominant  may  seem 
to  be  fairly  successful  teaching  in  the  traditional  type  of  school, 
without  having  had  much  special  preparation.  The  two  require- 
ments usually  made  that  mark  success  in  such  a school  are  good 
order,  and  ability  on  the  part  of  the  children  to  answer  questions. 
Good  order  under  this  conception  means  that  the  children  are 
sitting  quietly  in  seats,  with  hands  folded  on  the  desks,  listening, 


30 


absorbing  and  speaking  only  when  given  permission  to  do  so. 
Any  person  knows  when  he  gets  that  and  if  the  order  is  disturbed 
he  knows  what  culprit  to  punish.  When  the  test  of  the  children’s 
progress  consists  in  ability  to  answer  questions,  it  takes  only  a 
limited  experience  to  ascertain  whether  they  are  advancing. 

But  the  modern  teacher  must  be  prepared  to  direct  a school 
with  discipline  of  a different  type,  and  must  measure  advancement 
by  standards  of  another  sort.  Children  brought  up  in  a schnol 
where  conditions  approximate  those  of  real  life  are  free  to  move 
about,  stand  up,  sit  on  the  floor,  or  on  chairs  placed  in  irregular 
order.  There  is  always  bustle,  some  noise,  and  some  seeming 
confusion  where  children  are  active  and  engaged  in  the  natural 
expression  of  their  varied  conceptions  of  the  school  projects. 
Order  is  a relative  thing.  Intentional  interference  with  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  work,  or  rudeness  and  noise  that  are  obnoxious 
to  associates  are  to  be  eliminated,  but  necessity  for  this  open 
official  act  of  elimination  rarely  occurs  where  the  spirit  of  social 
unity  operates  and  where  cooperation  is  the  force  used  to  attain 
results.  The  only  discipline  worth  striving  for  is  the  discipline 
that  comes  through  experience.  This  is  a kind  of  discipline  that 
the  typical  teachers  have  to  learn. 

The  instructor  of  children  for  the  coming  day  must  conceive 
of  his  school  as  a miniature  community  living  out  types  of  active 
ties,  worth  preserving  for  the  future  State,  gathered  from  all 
past  and  contemporary  life.  Practice  teachers  are  often  confused 
when  first  placed  with  a group  of  children  who  have  been  allowed 
freedom  of  thought  and  action.  They  are  frequently  bewildered 
when  called  upon  to  assist  in  directing  a cooperative  activity. 
To  aid  children  in  enacting  a series  of  their  own  ideas  and  interests 
concerning  a certain  definite  problem,  would  be  near  to  impossible 
with  many  an  amateur.  Few  realize  the  part  that  the  physical 
condition  plays  in  the  advancement  and  the  daily  behavior  of 
school  children.  Even  in  cases  where  the  conventional  methods 
of  teaching  seem  yet  to  obtain,  many  students  need  to  learn  how 
to  make  their  practices  correspond  to  their  ideals.  All  these  in- 
tending teachers  the  Practice  school  is  designed  to  aid  and,  through 
its  organization  and  management  suggested  by  the  brief  state- 
ments above,  it  seeks  to  give  teachers  the  right  trend  toward  suc- 
cessful careers  in  directing  and  managing  the  “ schools  of  tomor- 
row1 \ 


31 


THE  RURAL  TEACHER 

Mark  Burrows 

Each  profession  sets  its  own  standards.  These  include  gen- 
eral education,  technical  preparation,  attitude  toward  work,  at- 
titude to  other  professions  and  activities.  In  all  professions  there 
is  a steadily  increasing  demand  for  more  general  education.  It 
is  recognized  that  the  cultured  man  has  a decided  advantage  over 
the  one  who  depends  more  largely  upon  mere  technical  prepara- 
tion. To  illustrate,  a few  years  ago  there  were  many  reputable 
schools  that  admitted  students  directly  to  the  study  of  law  or 
medicine.  Now  two  years  or  more  of  college  work  must  precede 
such  technical  study. 

The  teaching  profession  is  no  exception  to  this  demand  for 
increased  general  preparation.  Even  the  teacher  with  no  higher 
qualification  than  a county  certificate  must,  in  Missouri  by  1918, 
have  finisht  a standard  four  years  course  of  study,  in  an  accredited 
high  school  before  being  permitted  to  teach  in  a rural  school. 
Many  school  boards,  however,  will  not  be  content  with  these  min- 
imum educational  qualifications,  but  will  set  still  higher  standards. 
Especially  will  this  be  true  as  to  the  teachers  of  high  school  studies 
in  the  consolidated  rural  school,  which  will  finally  displace  the 
one-teacher  school  just  as  inevitably  as  the  modern  shoe  factory 
has  displaced  the  village  shoemaker.  So  as  to  increasing  aca- 
demic preparation,  the  teaching  profession  in  Missouri  rural 
schools  is  progressing  at  a very  encouraging  rate. 

As  to  technical  preparation  for  teaching  in  the  rural  schools, 
the  situation  is  very  encouraging.  At  one  time  the  only  visible 
evidence  of  this  was  the  grade  in  pedagogy  in  the  county  certifi- 
cate, which  could  be  made  by  exercising  good  judgment  and  read- 
ing in  a more  or  less  perfunctory  way  the  current  reading  circle 
books.  Now  the  least  preparation  possible  for  such  a certificate 
would  be  two  terms  of  study  in  pedagogy  courses  in  a good  normal 
school . In  the  last  few  years  the  normal  schools  are  offering  special 
courses  leading  to  the  rural  state  certificate,  and  first  class  high 
schools  under  strict  regulation  and  supervision  of  the  Department 
of  Education  are  offering  such  courses,  and  aided  by  an  annual 


32 


subsidy  of  $750  from  the  .State.  Some  of  the  technical  prepara 
tion  in  the  course  in  this  normal  school  follow. 

Three  quarters  of  work  are  offered  in  what  may  be  designated 
as  rural  school  pedagogy.  The  first  quarter  is  school  manage- 
ment, the  second  is  rural  school  methods.  In  this  a careful  survey 
is  made  of  the  common  branches,  and  some  of  the  almost  un- 
common ones  in  the  ordinary  rural  school,  such  as  music,  draw- 
ing, handicrafts,  and  the  like.  Observation  lessons  and  demon- 
strations are  seen  in  the  rural  school  on  our  campus,  and  in  work 
in  the  regular  practice  school.  The  third  quarter  of  work  is  given 
to  rural  sociology.  In  this  course  a greater  insight  is  afforded  as 
to  the  problems  and  possibilities  of  country  life  and  the  larger 
place  that  the  rural  school  should  hold  in  the  life  of  country  peo- 
ple. Other  technical  preparation  comes  in  requiring  a certain 
amount  of  work  to  be  done  in  physical  education,  looking  to  the 
great  possibilities  of  play  and  recreation  in  the  lives  of  people; 
household  arts,  looking  finally  to  better  living  conditions  in  the 
school  and  home;  music  and  drawing,  to  give  more  understanding 
and  sympathy  with  the  importance  of  beauty  in  the  scheme  of 
living;  and  manual  arts  to  develop  mental  and  manual  dexterity, 
and  give  a sounder  attitude  towards  the  dignity  and  culture  that 
should  be  connected  with  all  forms  of  manual  labor.  Sanitation, 
the  new  physiology,  comes  in  for  its  share  of  attention  in  this 
course  of  study.  A large  enough  reason  for  this  study  is  because 
of  the  final  effect  this  will  have  in  bringing  about  better  working 
conditions  in  the  school  plant.  But  a still  larger  reason  is  the 
final  effect  that  it  will  have  upon  the  health  of  the  next  generation. 
And  a fitting  close  to  this  work  of  technical  preparation  is  the  year 
of  work  in  agriculture.  Missouri  is  one  of  the  greatest  agricul- 
tural states  in  the  union,  but  until  the  last  ten  years  no  attention 
whatever  was  paid  by  school  teachers  and  curriculum  makers  to 
this  fact.  One  half  of  the  children  in  school  come  from  the  farm. 
And  now  we  have  set  our  faces  toward  the  great  principle  that 
that  education  is  best  which  fits  its  pupils  to  make  the  most  of 
the  environment  in  which  they  are  placed. 

The  teacher’s  attitude  toward  his  work  is  changing.  Here 
as  in  all  worth  while  work,  the  one  who  lives  in  his  work  will  ac- 
complish the  most.  No  longer  is  the  mere  school  room  the  teach- 
er’s workshop,  but  the  entire  district  becomes  a part  of  the  school 


33 


premises,  and  everybody  comes  to  school,  and  the  teacher  becomes 
a sort  of  director  of  school  work  and  has  many  assistants.  In  a 
very  few  instances  in  Missouri  at  present  the  teacher  works  the 
year  round,  and  has  a cottage  on  or  near  the  school  plant.  In  the 
state  of  Washington  more  than  one  hundred  such  inducements 
are  offered  by  enterprising  communities  to  attract  the  sort  of 
people  who  look  upon  teaching  not  as  only  a part  of  a year’s  work 
but  as  a year  of  life.  If  we  wish  to  see  what  such  a scheme  will 
effect  upon  the  education  and  prosperity  of  a county  neighbor- 
hood, we  can  see  its  best  exemplification  in  the  rural  schools  of 
Denmark  and  Switzerland. 

Closely  connected  with  the  teacher’s  attitude  to  his  work  will 
be  his  attitude  to  other  professions  and  activities.  The  broader 
education  of  the  coming  rural  school  teacher  will  make  him  more 
appreciative  and  sympathetic  of  all  the  great  things  that  are 
being  done  about  him.  His  work  places  him  with  a clientage  that 
is  charged  with  being  too  individualistic,  unsympathetic,  and 
aloof  from  other  men  and  other  manners.  Because  of  the  added 
culture  expected  in  his  profession  and  his  being  in  the  habit  of 
looking  toward  the  east,  he  should  become  one  of  the  leaders  in 
his  community.  At  present  we  say  that  nowhere  in  the  great 
republic  are  the  democratic  ideals  of  the  early  founders  better 
preserved  than  they  are  in  the  great  middle  West,  the  farming 
section  of  the  country.  If  to  these  ideals  we  bring  about  greater 
appreciation  of  the  fine  things  of  life;  if  every  country  school 
becomes  a culture  center,  and  city  and  country  are  equal  sharers 
in  the  triumphs  of  civilization, — then  it  will  be  great  work  to  be  a 
teacher,  and  to  help  bring  about  the  time  when  every  man  and 
woman  will  be  introduced  to  an  equal  opportunity  to  share  in  the 
riches  of  the  ages. 


“If  all  the  voices  of  men  called  out  warning  you,  and  you 
could  not  join  your  voice  with  their  voices. 

If  all  the  faces  of  men  were  turned  one  way  and  you  met  them 
face  to  face,  you  going  another, 

You  still  must  not  be  persuaded  to  capitulation;  you  will 
remember  that  the  road  runs  east  as  well  as  west.  ” 

— Horace  M.  Traubel. 


34 


CORRELATION  IN  THE  RURAL  SCHOOL 

Thurba  Fidler 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  helpful  grouping  in  the  rural  school 
course  of  study  has  lessened  the  number  of  classes  a day,  rural 
teachers  feel  that  there  is  not  sufficient  time  for  any  one  class. 
From  eighteen  to  twenty  classes  must  be  heard  each  day.  Just 
so  many  recitations  must  be  ground  out,  and  the  teacher  begins 
school  in  the  morning  with  the  feeling  that  she  must  hold  straight 
to  the  prescribed  program  and  grind  away.  Inwardly  she  hopes 
that  there  will  be  no  rocks  in  the  material  to  stop  the  machinery. 
If  it  stops,  four  o’clock  will  come  with  several  unheard  recitations, 
and  this,  in  the  judgment  of  the  people,  means  poor  management. 
Always  in  order  to  get  extra  time  to  dramatize  a history  lesson 
she  must  plan  ahead  to  give  to  the  class  whose  time  she  will  use, 
written  work  or  something  they  can  do  without  her  direction. 

The  state  course  of  study  prints  this  statement:  “The 
resourceful  and  wide-awake  teacher  with  experience  no  difficulty 
in  devising  ways  and  means  of  presentation,  and  in  finding  time 
to  do  the  work.”  The  teacher  who  questions  this  statement 
thinks  that  it  is  easier  to  know  what  to  teach  than  it  is  to  find 
time  to  teach  everything  under  the  present  course.  Therefore 
she  sets  to  work  to  discover  how  she  can  correlate  or  simplify 
her  program. 

At  present  the  greater  part  of  the  subject  matter  we  give  to 
children  is  lost,  because  the  child  does  not  associate  the  facts  we 
are  giving  him  with  his  oWn  experiences.  When  a child  learns 
by  the  natural  method  of  exploration  and  questioning,  he  does  not 
separate  history  from  arithmetic  or  geography,  but  takes  his  ex- 
periences mixed,  if  they  come  that  way,  and  they  usually  do. 
Then  when  he  has  asked  enough  questions  to  satisfy  his  longing 
for  knowledge,  he  seeks  new  experiences,  always  building  on  the 
old  ones.  And  when  school  days  change  to  business  life,  he  will 
not  carry  into  his  business  the  school  program  of  arithmetic, 
grammar,  history  or  literature,  stored  away  in  layers  in  the  mind, 
but  will  draw  upon  the  general  storehouse  of  the  mind,  all  his 
past  experiences  serving  his  needs.  Since  the  child  neither  learns 


35 


facts  alone  nor  uses  them  alone  afterwards,  there  is  no  reason 
why  the  teacher  should  use  so  much  effort  in  attempting  to  teach 
them  alone. 

Just  how  to  group  subjects  in  an  interesting  and  systematic 
way  is  the  task  for  the  teacher.  The  best  method  of  correlation 
has  not  been  worked  out.  In  truth,  no  one  course  can  be  an  ab- 
solute guide  for  all  schools.  If  there  should  be  special  stress  laid 
on  the  interest  side  of  any  subject  in  the  rural  school,  it  should 
be  on  agriculture.  With  agriculture  almost  any  subject  can  be 
correlated,  and  in  the  agriculture  work,  the  teacher  who  loves  the 
country  life  finds  many  means  of  motivation  without  neglecting 
either  the  geography  or  literature.  Part  of  a course  is  printed 
below  which  was  worked  out  in  order  to  shorten  the  daily  pro- 
gram. During  the  three  fall  months  stress  was  laid  on  the  out- 
door agriculture  work.  The  eighth  and  sixth  grades  (there  was 
no  seventh  grade)  worked  together  in  the  garden  but  the  eighth 
grade  also  had  text  book  work  which  was  too  difficult  for  the  sixth 
grade.  Not  wishing  to  drop  sixth  grade  work  when  winter  set  in, 
the  following  plan,  which  proved  the  most  interesting  of  the 
year,  was  used.  The  course  was  called  General  Science;  and  while 
it  was  being  given,  there  was  no  separate  class  work  in  agriculture, 
domestic  science  or  geography  in  either  grade.  The  texts  used 
were  two  science  books  (one  eighth  grade  and  one  sixth)  geography, 
domestic  science  and  agriculture  texts,  and  encyclopedias.  Each 
day  the  outline  for  the  following  day  was  written  on  the  board. 

A.  The  science  of  light. 

1.  Cause  of  light  (special  topics  to  8th  grade.) 

2.  How  light  travels.  (Experiments  by  sixth  grade) 

3.  Transparent  bodies. 

Translucent  bodies. 

Opaque  bodies. 

4.  Day  and  Night.  (Experiments  with  globe.) 

5.  The  light  of  the  planets  and  stars. 

6.  Artificial  light. 

7.  The  eye  and  the  camera. 

8.  The  effect  of  light  on  plants  and  animals. 

Not  all  the  above  had  been  put  into  the  teacher’s  original 
plan,  but  the  children  asked  for  it,  and  forced  it  in  by  their  ques- 


tioning.  The  questions  on  artificial  light  sent  the  whole  school 
searching  encyclopedias  and  surprising  electricians  by  their  sud- 
den interest  in  the  town’s  lighting  system. 

B.  The  science  of  heat. 

1.  Cause  of  heat.  (Iteport  by  8th  grade.) 

2.  Absorbed  and  reflected  heat. 

3.  Heat  belts  of  the  earth. 

a.  Width  of  zones. 

b.  Globe  work  showing  latitude  lines. 

c.  Winds  caused  by  unequal  heating. 

4.  Artificial  heat. 

5.  Effect  of  heat  on  plants.  ( 

C.  The  science  of  living. 

1.  Things  necessary  to  life,  air,  food,  water. 

2.  Study  of  air — composition  and  purity. 

3.  Study  of  water — kinds,  uses,  purity. 

4.  Foods  necessary  to  health. 

a.  Carbohydrates,  protein,  fats,  minerals,  water. 

b.  Available  foods  in  each  class. 

c.  Use  of  each  food.  Balanced  school  lunch. 

In  this  school,  no  separate  time  is  taken  for  geography  and 
history  thruout  the  grades.  The  history  course  is  planned  from 
the  first  grade  thru  the  eighth  in  such  a way  that  no  work  is  ever 
repeated,  and  the  geography  work  fits  into  the  history  work.  A 
schedule  is  used  so  that  each  boy  or  girl  may  have  one  hour  a day 
in  the  manual  training  shop,  but  no  one  misses  a regular  recitation 
in  order  to  work  there.  He  simply  uses  the  time  between  nine 
and  four  that  he  used  to  spend  doing  nothing.  Not  more  than 
two  use  the  shop  in  any  one  hour.  The  children  work  better 
when  the  shop  is  not  crowded.  The  arithmetic  work  at  times 
seems  to  cover  almost  everything.  When  it  becomes  so  broad 
that  it  is  using  drawing  and  language  work  too,  they  are  never 
told  to  put  away  their  arithmetic  work  and  get  their  language 
lesson,  but  are  permitted  to  work  out  the  problem  at  hand.  We 
have  been  flying  from  one  thing  to  another  in  the  school  room  pro- 
gram, and  then  wondering  why  it  was  so  hard  to  get  the  children 
to  stick  to  a problem  until  it  was  worked  out! 

Business  is  a series  of  problems.  If  a boy  is  interested  in 


37 


plotting  a garden,  it  will  do  him  more  good  to  spend  two  class 
periods  on  that  garden  than  to  stop  in  the  middle  of  his  work  to 
study  some  beautiful  selection  from  literature.  But  the  teacher 
must  measure  results  by  the  growth  of  the  child,  not  by  the  number 
of  recitations.  The  next  day  he  may  do  three  days  work  in  lit- 
erature if  he  is  allowed  to  do  so  when  at  the  close  of  the  recitation 
he  begs  to  finish  the  story.  Thirty  minutes  three  times  a week 
gives  ninety  minutes  to  reading,  and  fifteen  minutes  five  times  a 
week  gives  seventy-five  minutes.  So  actually  more  time  is  given 
to  reading  in  the  first  case  than  in  the  second  and  the  results  will 
be  far  more  satisfactory,  with  a less  chopped-up  daily  program. 
The  plea  that  children  become  tired  of  a long  recitation  is  non- 
sense, if  it  is  the  right  kind  of  a recitation.  A second  grade  group, 
according  to  the  carefully  “figured-out  program”,  was  to  have 
fifteen  minutes  each  recitation  for  reading.  One  day  after  having 
used  twenty  minutes,  they  begged  to  read  it  “just  once  more,” 
because  the  wolf  forgot  to  howl  at  the  proper  time  and  they  had 
just  discovered  it. 

Correlation  then  must  be  based  on  the  teacher’s  ability  to 
group  problems.  It  matters  not  whether  a child  has  twenty  reci- 
tations in  a month  or  ten,  but  it  matters  a great  deal  what  kind  of 
habits  he  forms  and  whether  he  can  think  or  whether  he  merely 
quotes  from  a book. 


“That  man  is  a success  who  has  lived  well,  laughed  often  and 
loved  much;  who  has  gained  the  respect  of  intelligent  men  and  the 
love  of  little  children;  who  has  filled  his  niche  and  accomplished 
his  task:  who  left  the  world  better  than  he  found  it,  whether  by 
an  improved  poppy,  a perfect  poem  or  a rescued  soul;  who  never 
lacked  appreciation  of  earth’s  beauty  or  failed  to  express  it;  who 
always  looked  for  the  best  in  others  and  gave  the  best  he  had;  whose 
memory  is  a benediction.” — Robert  Louis  Stevenson. 

“If  increase  of  power  is  not  accompanied  by  the  enlargement 
of  the  social  consciousness,  it  is  apt  to  manifest  itself  in  a dominat- 
ing or  competitive  spirit.  If,  however,  the  socializing  process 
proceeds  in  harmony  with  the  increasing  power  and  means  of 
control,  the  force  which  would  otherwise  express  itself  in  a com- 
petitive way  manifests  itself  in  co-operation.  ” — Dopp. 


38 


RATING  TEACHERS 

Rosamond  Root 

Introduction. — The  aim  in  this  study  is  (1)  to  show  why  the 
subject  has  become  a topic  for  consideration  in  the  administra- 
tion of  education;  (2)  to  discover  the  purposes  of  rating;  (3)  to 
point  out  the  difficulties  met  in  attempting  to  scientifically  and 
justly  rate  teachers;  (4)  to  determine  by  whom  the  rating  shall 
be  done;  (5)  to  compare  pioneer  schemes  for  rating  to  find  what 
items  are  essential  for  success  together  with  their  relative  value; 
(6)  to  find  what  tests  may  be  applied  to  determine  the  rating  of 
the  teacher  in  the  various  items  of  merit  and,  (7)  to  give  some 
conclusions  reached  from  a critical  survey  of  the  literature  on  the 
subject. 

A Topic  of  Administrative  Concern. — In  this  twentieth 
century  when  efficiency  and  adaptability  are  possibly  the  two 
greatest  words  in  the  language  of  economics,  industry  and  society 
in  general  we  are  forced  to  look  for  the  qualities  which  make  pos- 
sible these  two  characteristics,  in  whatever  phase  of  society  we 
are  most  concerned. 

We  have  passed  into  a scientific  age  when  in  all  practical 
things  we  have  begun  to  measure  results  instead  of  causes;  when 
we  consider  actual  accomplishment  first  and  then  study  this  in 
relation  to  the  causes;  when  we  no  longer  evaluate  things  in  descrip- 
tive, nominative  terms  but  measure  them  by  definitive,  quanti- 
tative standards.  This  scientific  method  is  being  demanded  in 
education  to  the  same  extent  that  it  is  in  measuring  the  elements 
of  other  enterprises,  for  education  is  now  one  of  the  largest  enter- 
prises. It  involves  the  expenditure  of  more  than  $375,000,000 
annually  for  the  services  of  half  a million  teachers  to  instruct 
one-fifth  of  our  population  which  is  in  the  public  schools.  The 
people  are  rightly  demanding  that  they  may  know  what  results 
are  being  attained  and  whether  this  great  expenditure  is  being 
made  most  economically. 

In  Harvard  Studies,  Vol.  2,  on  “The  Appointment  of  Teach- 
ers in  Cities,  ” Ballou  says,  “72%  of  school  expenses  goes  to  teach- 
ers, principals  and  supervisors. 1 Again  “The  teacher  is  the 
central  factor  in  the  problem  of  providing  education  and  the  most 


39 


important  single  asset  which  any  school  system  can  possess  is  a 
corps  of  efficient  teachers.”  I quote  further: — “The  difference 
between  mediocre  teachers  and  efficient  teachers  accounts  largely 
for  the  difference  between  keeping  the  schools  running  and  keep- 
ing them  running  at  a maximum  of  efficiency.  ” 

In  securing  efficient  teachers  the  method  of  appointment 
becomes  of  supreme  importance  for  responsibility  and  account- 
ability are  placed  upon  the  appointing  officer.  This  brings  us 
to  our  second  question. 

Purposes  of  Rating. — We  find  one  of  the  perennial  prob- 
lems of  school  administration  is  that  of  judging  and  rating  teachers 
to  determine  if  they  shall  be  retained  in  service,  and  this  necessi- 
tates that  the  appointing  officer  be  able  to  record  a defensible 
judgment  in  favor  of  or  against  such  retention. 

Another  reason  why  teachers  must  be  judged  is  the  necessity 
for  filling  vacancies  in  the  school  system  which  demand  superior 
ability.  Unless  one  can  rank  teachers  so  this  ability  can  be  dis- 
covered there  is  opportunity  to  fail  in  making  the  right  promotion 
within  the  force. 

A third  reason  is  the  necessity  of  appointing  teachers  from 
outside  to  fill  vacancies  or  new  positions.  We  find  here  a great 
handicap  in  that  there  is  no  uniform  system  of  rating  used  in 
school  systems;  hence  it  is  impossible  to  get  a scientific  evalua- 
tion of  a teacher’s  efficiency  merits.  Instead  we  are  dependent 
upon  general  recommendations  of  supervisors  or  college  officials 
whose  estimates  of  the  characteristics  which  constitute  general 
excellence  in  a teacher  vary  widely. 

The  fourth  reason  for  determining  the  rank  of  a teacher’s 
efficiency  is  the  recent  tendency  to  increase  salaries  on  the  basis 
of  merit,  increased  efficiency,  professional  improvement,  or  teach- 
ing ability  rather  than  on  the  old  basis  of  length  of  service. 

The  fifth  reason  for  rating  teachers  is  to  call  their  attention 
to  their  strong  and  weak  points  and  thereby  aid  them  in  self- 
improvement  and  productive  efficiency. 

Difficulties  Met. — The  attitudes  toward  the  difficulties  met 
in  attempting  to  get  a satisfactory  rating  of  the  teacher  vary  as 
widely  as  the  opinions  of  administrators.  We  find  expressions  of 
these  attitudes  ranging  from  the  one  recorded  by  Gilbert  in  The 


40 


School  and  Its  Life, — “ Teachers  cannot  be  judged  by  a marking 
system,”  to  C.  H.  Johnston's  opinion  found  in  The  Modern 
High  School, — “ After  numerous  pioneer  exploitations  such  as 
these  have  been  recorded,  and  after  some  scientific  collections  and 
interpretations  of  those  varied  and  measurably  successful  schemes 
have  been  made,  it  is  certain  that  a definite  schedule  of  measuring 
teachers  and  of  promoting  them  on  such  a basis  will  come  about. 
He  makes  reference  in  the  above  to  E.  C.  Eliot's  “ Tentative 
Scheme  for  Measuring  Teaching  Efficiency,”  which  has  been  so 
stimulating  to  school  administrators. 

Another  difficulty  is  that  teaching  is  to  quite  an  extent  a 
spiritual  process  which  is  subjective  and  difficult  to  measure.  Fur- 
thermore the  results  are  not  immediately  manifest;  the  personal 
factors  influencing  results  are  intangible,  abstract,  and  not  par- 
ticularly objective.  To  that  degree  they  are  unscientific  and 
immeasurable. 

The  next  difficulty  is  to  find  the  test  or  measuring  rod  by 
which  we  can  evaluate  the  respective  items  of  merit. 

Lastly  there  is  the  diffiulty  of  getting  a ranking  or  final  esti- 
mate of  a teacher’s  efficiency  which  will  not  be  colored  by  personal 
feeling  or  the  opinion  of  the  rating  officer. 

The  Rating  Officers. — We  now  come  to  the  question  of 
who  is  the  person  best  qualified  to  perform  this  very  responsible 
and  delicate  task.  It  is  the  opinion  of  writers  on  the  subject  and 
investigators  that  it  is  a task  demanding  the  services  of  an  expert. 
The  superintendent  because  of  the  fact  that  he  is  the  professional 
executive  officer  of  the  Board  of  Education  should  be  the  most 
competent.  E.  W.  Griffith,  after  securing  the  opinion  of  a large 
number  of  administrators,  reports  his  findings  in  the  American 
School  Board  Journal,  Volume  47,  pp.  12-13,  54-55  to  be  that  the 
use  of  the  combination  method  for  rating  employing  the  superin- 
tendent and  his  supervisory  officers  tends  to  divide  responsibility, 
correct  possible  personal  bias,  and  promote  faithful  and  sustained 
effort  among  the  teaching  force. 

In  Lincoln,  Nebraska  the  officers  for  rating  are  named  as 
follows:  superintendent,  principal,  supervisor  of  art,  supervisor 
of  music,  and  supervisor  of  manual  training.  In  other  towns  we 
find  the  grammar  grade  and  primary  supervisors  included  on  the 
committee. 


41 


This  is  a very  responsible  work  and  necessitates  the  exercise 
of  breadth  of  view,  sanity  of  judgment,  keenness  of  insight,  and 
firmness  of  decision.  Therefore  it  should  be  delegated  to  the 
proper  persons  even  if  it  demands  the  evincing  of  sufficient  interest 
in  the  cities  to  secure  regulation  by  state  legislatures. 

Necessary  Items  of  Merit  and  Their  Relative  Value. — 

The  problem  of  determining  just  what  items  of  merit  should  be 
included  in  a rating  system  together  with  their  relative  values 
seems  almost  impossible  of  solution.  The  following  factors  enter 
into  the  consideration.  (1)  The  influence  of  standards  used 
thruout  our  earlier  history  is  still  present.  We  have  passed 
thru  epochs  when  the  following  standards  were  the  basis  of  rank- 
ing a teacher, — (a)  orthodoxy  or  ecclesiastical  conformity;  (b) 
personal  or  political  affiliation  and  loyalty;  (c)  academic  training; 
(d)  professional  training;  and  finally  we  are  in  the  period  when 
the  selection,  retention  or  rewarding  is  to  be  based  on  (e)  direct 
efficiency. 

(2)  Palmer  suggests  in  his  Ideal  Teacher,  “ There  is  no 
human  excellence  which  is  not  useful  for  us  teachers.  ” We  im- 
mediately see  that  the  problem  will  necessarily  have  to  be  nar- 
rowed to,  “What  are  those  characteristics  of  the  teacher  without 
which  he  must  fail,  and  what  those  which,  once  his,  will  almost 
certainly  insure  him  success?”  One  author  suggests  we  rate  on 
negative  items  or  those  of  demerit  and  the  problem  will  be  lessened. 

(3)  Formerly  supervisory  officers  have  been  accustomed,  for 
all  practical  purposes,  to  rank  their  teachers  by  a method  known 
as  “snap-shot  judgments.  ” We  find  them  reluctant  then  to 
adopt  a scale  which  will  demand  the  process  of  analysis,  evalua- 
tion and  synthesis  and  which  will  necessitate  the  knowledge  of 
facts  to  arrive  at  an  exact  and  just  measurement.  The  time  ele- 
ment, the  anxiety  and  possibility  of  having  to  defend  one’s  judg- 
ment, and  an  addition  to  the  already  numerous  details  of  super- 
vision are  offered  as  good  reasons  for  adopting  brief  schemes,  in- 
volving few  descriptive  terms. 

These  apparently  have  already  proved  insufficient  as  denoted 
by  the  current  stress  and  effort  to  decide  on  a scientific  scheme  of 
measurement. 


42 


(4)  There  is  a difference  of  opinion  also  as  to  whether  these 
items  shall  be  given  definite,  relative,  values  as  shown  in  the 
Elliott  plan,  the  Decatur  plan,  and  the  Indiana  plan  or  whether 
the  rank  shall  be  checked  as  descriptive  by  items  and  the  final  or 
general  rank  be  determined  by  the  median  as  shown  by  Boyce  in 
the  “Fourteenth  Yearbook  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study 
of  Education.  ” 

(5)  The  relative  value  of  items  of  merit  can  be  accurately  de- 
termined only  by  a scientific  investigation  such  as  that  tried  by 
Ruediger  and  Strayer  reported  in  the  Journal  of  Educational 
Psychology,  Vol.  1;  pp.  272-278  and  also  in  the  above  mentioned 
Yearbook.  This  investigation  was  conducted  for  elementary 
teachers.  A similar  experiment  was  tried  by  A.  C.  Boyce  for 
high  school  teachers  and  reported  in  the  Journal  of  Educational 
Psychology,  Vol  3;  pp.  144-157. 

These  experiments  are  yet  insufficient  because  of  the  few  cases 
and  the  unreliableness  of  the  data  secured.  However  by  securing 
sufficient  data,  correlations  may  be  determined  which  will  be  of 
value. 

In  the  experiments  mentioned  the  correlations  show  no  central 
tendency,  but  some  interesting  discoveries  follow : (a)  The  lowest 
correlation  was  between  Health  and  General  Merit.  This  cannot 
be  entirely  relied  upon  for  Health  rank  is  difficult  to  give  even  with 
a medical  examination,  and  this  was  not  made  in  all  cases  reported, 
(b)  Personal  Appearance  and  General  Merit  correlations  were 
slight  showing  importance  placed  upon  this  factor  by  teachers’ 
agencies  is  of  commercial  interest  rather  than  being  of  special 
significance  in  teaching  efficiency,  (c)  The  highest  correlations 
shown  were  between  Teaching  Skill  and  Keeping  Order.  These 
are  essentials  for  consideration  in  appointing  grade  teachers,  (d) 
Length  of  Service  seemed  to  lose  its  importance  after  five  years 
for  no  one  who  had  taught  less  than  five  years  ranked  first  or 
second.  Also  a number  of  those  ranked  lowest  had  taught  eight 
years,  and  those  second  lowest  nine  years.  The  ten  year  period 
included  70%  of  the  first  rank;  60%  of  the  second  rank;  40%  of 
the  second  lowest  rank;  and  30%  of  the  lowest  rank,  (e)  The 
distribution  of  good  and  poor  teachers  thru  the  grades  showed  the 
following: 


43 


Grade 

Rank 

Percent  of  1 

1 

1-2 

28 

8 

1-2 

19 

1 -2-7-8 

1-2 

69 

4-6 

Lowest 

38 

3-4-5-6 

Middle 

31 

The  inference  would  be  that  there  must  be  a special  fitness  for 
the  intermediate  grades,  (f)  Salaries  were  best  where  teaching 
efficiency  was  highest  if  there  was  variation  in  salaries  but  in  four 
of  the  nine  systems  there  was  equal  pay.  (g)  Preparation  showed 
a marked  positive  influence  upon  General  Merit.  The  Normal 
School  graduates  ranked  highest  in  the  grades  which  is  undoubted- 
ly due  to  their  professional  preparation  instead  of  academic  train- 
ing alone  as  given  in  most  colleges,  (h)  Boyce’s  correlations  of 
most  important  items  of  merit  with  their  relation  to  General 
Merit  are  in  their  order  of  importance  given  in  the  following  table: 


Item  of  Merit  Correlation 

Instructional  Skill  90% 

Results  85% 

Stimulation  of  Individuals  80% 

Intellectual  Capacity  71% 

Discipline  67% 


(i)  All  correlations  were  reasonably  high  when  comparison  of 
single  qualities  with  Teaching  Efficiency  were  made  excepting 
General  Appearance  and  Health,  (j)  Physical  qualities  rank 
lowest  and  dynamic  qualities  and  achievement  rank  highest. 
This  is  evidence  that  superintendents  are  looking  for  results, 
(k)  Experience  ranks  third  from  the  last.  (1)  Moral  qualities 
rank  lower  than  administrative  qualities  and  instructional  ability. 

This  data  does  not  justify  the  order  of  importance  commonly 
given  to  the  various  items. 

(6)  (a)  A comparison  of  these  facts  indicates  that  the  order 
of  relative  importance  will  not  be  the  same  for  all  grades  nor  for 
all  types  of  teaching.  For  example,  items  of  merit  for  elementary 
teachers  were  in  the  following  order  when  related  in  importance  to 
General  Efficiency. 

Item  Correlation 

Discipline  56% 

Instructional  Skill  54% 


44 


High  School  teachers  we  remember  reversed  this  order  of  the  two 
most  important  items,  (b)  Experience  was  plainly  shown  to 
modify  teaching  ability  but  was  limited  to  five  years  and  twenty- 
five  years.  After  attaining  a high  degree  of  efficiency  there  was 
no  decline  until  after  twenty  years  of  service  beyond  the  pro- 
bationary period,  (c)  Elementary  teachers  were  found  to  stay 
in  the  profession  longer  than  high  school  teachers,  (d)  College 
graduates  made  better  high  school  teachers  and  normal  trained 
teachers  succeeded  best  in  the  grades,  (c)  In  both  cases  Results 
were  most  dependent  upon  Instructional  Skill  and  Ability  to  Keep 
Order. 

These  five  impressions  would  indicate  that  the  administrator 
should  have  another  expression  of  judgment  in  order  to  make  the 
best  adjustments  and  promotions  for  the  good  of  the  school. 

(7)  It  has  been  suggested  that  teachers  would  not  welcome 
such  a rating  system  and  therefore  it  would  fail  in  one  of  the 
strongest  purposes  for  which  we  urge  it, — the  desire  to  improve 
teachers  in  service.  Johnston  in  “The  Modern  High  School” 
however  gives  us  the  assurance  that  high  school  teachers  do  indorse 
the  plan  and  show  marked  improvement  where  it  has  been  applied. 
Typical  expressions  from  high  school  teachers  of  which  he  gives 
several  follow. 

“ Instead  of  making  the  teacher  feel  that  the  supervisor  is  an 
autocrat,  to  my  mind  it  makes  her  feel  that  he  is  a just  judge  in 
that  he  puts  into  her  hands  his  rule  of  measurement  and  permits 
her  to  feel  that  she  has  an  opportunity  to  bring  herself  up  to  his 
standard”. 

“ I place  a very  high  estimate  upon  its  value,  not  only  to  the 
teacher  but  reaching  out  beyond  her  to  the  school.  I believe  that 
the  scheme  is  in  every  respect  a feasible  one”. 

Also  the  eagerness  with  which  Hyde’s  “ Self-Measurement  ” 
a scale  of  human  values  for  self  ranking  in  efficiency, — was  re- 
ceived shows  that  all  intelligent  individuals  are  anxious  to  improve 
themselves  in  productive  efficiency. 

Tests  for  Measurement. — Lastly  should  we  decide  upon 
the  items  to  be  included  in  our  rating  scheme,  we  would  find  it 
necessary  to  explain  the  terms  in  order  to  secure  uniformity  of 
interpretation  and  also  determine  what  tests  may  be  applied  for 
each  item  to  most  accurately  measure  the  teacher’s  rank. 


45 


Helpful  suggestions  are  offered  by  Edwin  D.  Pusey  of  Durham, 
North  Carolina  and  published  in  the  report  of  the  National 
Education  Association  for  1914.  He  said, — “We  can  ratp 
teachers  on  items  of  a score  card  evaluating  them  by  personal 
opinion  and  yet  not  have  an  efficient  teacher  in  the  corps.  ” To 
quote  him  further, — “The  proof  of  a teacher’s  efficiency  is  to  be 
found  in  the  pupil  whom  the  teacher  advances  and  the  pupil 
should  have  the  following  characteristics:  (a)  Punctuality;  (b) 
Wellbehaved;  (c)  Has  some  definiteness  of  purpose;  (d)  can 
organize  ideas;  (e)  has  developed  a power  of  reason  commensurate 
with  his  age;  (f)  is  self-reliant;  (g)  can  take  initiative”. 

A few  tests  of  the  teacher’s  Technical  Skill,  Ability  to  Secure 
Results,  and  Disciplinary  Ability  are:  (a)  pupil  attendance; 

(b)  behavior  of  pupils  on  playground  and  in  public;  (c)  tidiness  of 
room  and  neatness  of  pupils;  (d)  pupils  interest  in  material  other 
than  the  text-book;  (e)  knowledge  of  the  pupil’s  environment 
possessed  by  the  teacher;  (f)  teacher’s  position  of  leadership  in 
the  community;  (g)  accuracy  in  keeping  records  and  marking; 
(h)  increased  mental  power  of  the  pupils  and  their  ability  to  apply 
their  knowledge;  (i)  the  quickness  and  accuracy  with  pupils  do 
their  work. 

Harvey  in  his  “Principles  of  Teaching”  suggests  that  the 
teacher  can  be  tested  through  her  questions  as  to  “whether  she 
is  an  artist  in  the  profession  or  merely  a plodder  and  artisan.  ” 

H.  E.  Kratz  in  his  Studies  and  Observations  in  the  School- 
room gives  some  weight  to  the  possibility  of  estimating  a teacher 
by  the  impressions  her  pupils  have  of  her  and  by  what  chaacter- 
istics  impress  them. 

It  seems  possible  the  teacher  can  be  tested  indirectly  through 
measurement  of  results  in  the  pupils. 

Conclusions. — I believe  these  conclusions  may  be  safely 
drawn : — 

(1)  Supervisory  officers  and  administrators  are  compelled 
to  determine  the  relative  value  of  teacherfe  because  of  the  increased 
demand  for  efficiency  and  the  present  use  of  scientific  methods. 

(2)  There  are  definite  measurable  qualities  of  merit  which 
determine  teaching  efficiency. 

(3)  These  measurements  must  be  taken  by  a group  of  ex- 
perts' who  will  measure  results  through  the  changes  that  take 


46 


place  in  pupils  in  their  habitfe,  in  method^  of  work,  in  developed 
power  of  appreciation,  in  broadened  and  intensified  interests,  in 
awakened  and  nurtured  ideals,  and  in  increased  knowledge.  By 
having  the  work  done  by  experts  will  prevent  inaccuracies  on 
account  of  unevenness  of  personal  judgment  and  the  possibility 
of  personal  bias. 

(4)  These  items  of  merit  have  a relative  value  of  unequal 
degree  in  relation  to  teaching  efficiency.  Also  the  order  of  these 
degrees  of  value  vary  and  change  in  consideration  of  the  grade  and 
type  of  teaching. 

(5)  The  most  important  items  seemingly  are  found  in  the 
“ Efficiency  Record”, — given  on  page  54  of  The  Fourteenth 
Year  Book  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study  of  Education, 
and  classified  under  sections  IY  and  V as  follows: 

IY.  Technique  of  Teaching 

Definiteness  and  Clearness  of  Aim 
Skill  in  Habit  Formation 
Skill  in  Stimulating  Thought 
Skill  in  Teaching  How  to  Study 
Skill  in  Questioning. 

Choice  of  Subject  Matter 
Organization  of  Subject  Matter. 

Skill  and  Care  in  Assignment 
Skilf  wi  Motivating  Work 
Attention  to  Individual  Needs 

V.  Results — 

Attention  and  Response  of  the  Class 
Growth  of  Pupils  in  Subject  Matter 
General  Development  of  Pupils 
Stimulation  of  Community 
Moral  Influence 

This  reduces  the  measurement  scheme  to  a minimum  of  terms 
which  will  conserve  time  in  rating  and  prevent  confusion  from  a 
mass  of  details.  It  is  also  quite  possible  to  test  these  abilities 
and  effect's  either  directly  or  indirectly  objectively.  Furthermore 
they  are  the  things  without  which  efficiency  is  impossible, — in 
fact  they  are  efficiency  and  that  is  what  we  are  testing.  Lastly 
they  infer  the  presence  of  all  other  characteristics  usually  included 


47 


in  a scheme  unless  they  happen  to  be  items  which  are  practically 
zero  in  their  correlations  of  influence. 

With  the  following  change  in  order  of  importance  it  might 
be  possible  to  use  this  scale  attaching  per  cents  of  value  or  rate 
by  use  of  the  median. 

I.  Results — 90% 

1 

2 

3  

4  

5  

II.  Technique  of  Teaching — 10% 

1 

2 

3  

4  

5  

6  

7.  . . 

8 

9 

10 

The  blanks  could  be  filled  with  a uniform  terminology  selected 
by  common  agreement.  This  would  not  be  a difficult  task  for 
there  seems  a marked  degree  of  uniformity  in  judgment  concern- 
ing the  characteristics  at  the  present  time. 

6.  A uniform  scale,  usable  and  intelligently  applied  would  be 
a great  inspiration  to  teachers  and  would  be  of  real  worth  in  scien- 
tific management  of  a school  system.  It  could  also  be  used  to 
advantage  in  the  training  of  teachers  supervisors  and  principals. 

7.  A refined  solution  of  the  problem  has  not  yet  been  attained 
but  the  results  of  pioneer  effort  point  in  the  right  direction. 


“What  the  wisest  parent  wants  for  his  own  child,  that  must 
the  community  want  for  all  its  children.  Any  other  ideal  acted 
upon  is  narrow  and  unlovely;  acted  upon  it  destroys  democracy.  ” 

— Dewey. 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


3 0112  062105512 


